Dragon Magazine #235.pdf

What you can�t see

ast night I played a game of cards with a friend. It was aslow and often difficult game, since she was new to the

rather complex rules and the game really works best with fiveor more players. To make matters worse, we couldn’t see eachother’s cards. We were playing online.

About six years ago I bought my first modem. At first I wenta little nuts, checking out all of the big services as well as thelocal BBS lines. I gradually lost interest in the smaller outfits,and the first horrifying credit card bill made it clear that I couldafford only one of the big services, so I stayed on Genie. Theattraction was the TSR RoundTable, and what hooked me wasthe online role-playing.

At first it was merely novel to see that people hundreds orthousands of miles apart could gather weekly and forge agaming friendship as strong and satisfying as any in “real life.”It was better in many ways, too. The ability to send privatemessages made passing notes to the DM that much more sub-tle for the players of thieves and other sneaky characters.Being able to prepare text descriptions of characters, spelleffects, NPC dialogue, area descriptions, or practically anything— well, that was amazing to someone who’s a better writerthan actor.

The magic of online role-playing is in what’s not there.When you can’t see that Bob’s a sturdy balding man over sixfeet tall, it’s much easier to visualize him as a lithe elvenranger. When you can’t hear Mary’s stammer, you can wellimagine her high priest’s commanding voice resoundingthrough marble halls. Online gaming focuses much more onwhat you can imagine, without the distractions of what yousee and hear at the gaming table. If seeing is believing, thennot seeing is imagining.

When you read a book, don’t you imagine the charactersmuch more vividly than when you see amovie? Aren’t the “images” of the oldradio plays far more amazing thanthose created by even the mosttalented SFX crews? In a

regular, face-to-face game, not only must you imagine theappearance of the setting and characters but also you mustignore the real environment of the gaming table and the actu-al faces and voices of your fellow players. It takes two leaps ofimagination to visualize the fantasy world in a face-to-facegame. Online gaming takes away one and makes the secondmuch shorter.

Online gaming does have its drawbacks, of course. Goodtypists have a distinct advantage over those who hunt andpeck. While you can roll virtual dice online, you lose that sat-isfying heft when rolling for a 6d6 fireball. The closest thing youhave to miniatures are the stick-figures some DMs use to rep-resent PCs on a text-based map. Worst of all, you can’t shareyour pizza and drinks, hear the laughter of your friends, or seetheir grins or grimaces as they react to the shared, imaginedadventure.

I played and DMed AD&D® game sessions for three or fouryears before my free time diminished too much to play regular-ly. You can often find me haunting the TSR Online area of Genie(as TSR.MAGS) or AOL (as TSR Dragon), though it’s to trade gam-ing war stories and chat more often than it is for a game.

If you’re interested in online gaming and have access toAOL or Genie, try keyword TSR and have a look around. Thesoftware libraries and message boards are good, but it’s thegaming you should try. Tell ‘em Dave sent you. (Don’t believea word they say about my DMing. There were several nightswhen not a single character died.)

When I do find the time these days, I play face-to-facesessions at the local game store or at conventions. Sincegaming online, though, “real” games seem to be missingsomething — or maybe they’re not missing enough.

PublisherTSR, Inc.

Associate PublisherBrian Thomsen

Editor-in-ChiefPierce Watters

EditorDave Gross

Art DirectorLarry Smith

Associate EditorMichelle Vuckovich

Editorial AssistantLizz Baldwin

SubscriptionsJanet Winters

U.S. AdvertisingCindy Rick

U.K. Correspondent/AdvertisingCarolyn Wildman

Printed in the USA

DRAGON #235 3

November 1996Volume XXI, No. 6Issue #235

Mage on Deck!Ted Zuvich

The Shipmage:Don’t leave port without one.

Page 30

Planar HeroesEd BonnySkills & Powers give you the edgeyou need to survive the multiverse —or any Prime Plane, for that matter.This huge special feature providesPLAYER�S OPTION� rules especially forthe PLANESCAPE® setting, but adaptableto any fantasy role-playing world.Page 8

4 NOVEMBER 1996

Dragon's Bestiary:Monsters of the Lower DeepGregory W. DetwilerVenture too deep into the ocean's depths,and these are the fishes you’ll end up feeding.Page 43

Arcane Lore I:Sea Spells

Brian DunnellA full complement of spells

to save you from a watery grave.Page 50

Ecology of the TroglodyteSpike Y. JonesOK, so they stink. But they’revery sensitive about it.Page 78

Arcane Lore II:

Columns3 . . . . . . . . . . . . The Wyrm's Turn

Gaming online.

6............................................D-MailYou wrote it, we printed it.

59.............................. BookwyrmsRead any good books lately? We have, andhere are the ones we recommend.

68........... RPGA® Network NewsHey, you! Yeah, l’m talking to you.

74...................................... ForumThe return of the TSR thugs!

84.............................Cons & ProsRake leaves this weekend or go to a convention. . . rake leaves or . . . ?

70............................... Sage AdviceCan my dwarf use a longbow in two hands?How does my sha’ir use a signature spell?

109 .........Role-playing ReviewsHere are some games to give you the creeps.

Spells of the ScaledSteve BermanA few nasty surprises

from some cold-blooded spellcasters.

Dungeon Mastery:Let�s Get Physical

Page 89

120 ................The Current ClackThe scoop, the story, the talk — all the goodgaming gossip.

Other Material99 ............... Knights of the Dinner Table

100 .........................................DragonMirth

102 ...................................Gamer’s Guide

104 ......................................................Floyd

116 .....................................TSR Previews

Troy Daniels The basics of physical DMing.Page 91

62 Relics(DRAGONLANCE®:Tales of the Fifth Age)Jeff GrubbWhat is left when the legendspass into history?

DRAGON #235

If you have a comment, opinion, or ques-tion for the editors of DRAGON® Magazine,write us a letter. We’d love to hear from you.

In the United States and Canada, sendletters to “D-Mail,” DRAGON Magazine, 201Sheridan Springs Road, Lake Geneva, WI53147 USA. In Europe, send letters to “D-Mail,” DRAGON Magazine, TSR Ltd., 120Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB13LB, United Kingdom.

You can also send e-mail to us [email protected]. Don’t expect a person-al response; we’d love to answer everyone,but the volume has become immense.

Dear DRAGON Magazine,I’ll start with the bad news first.I received my renewal notice and dis-

covered that a year’s subscription nowcosts $42. I then thought to myself “That$42 could buy two hardbound TSR ruleor source books.” My question to you: Isa year of DRAGON Magazine worth theinformation found in two hardboundrulebooks? An even better question, willDRAGON Magazine contain the material ofleast one hardbound sourcebook that aGREYHAWK® setting DM can use? Youneed to find a way to control costs, or gobi-monthly. Consider that DUNGEON®Adventures is a bi-monthly publication,and quality adventures abound. DRAGONMagazine could learn much from itsbaby brother.

DRAGON® Magazine (ISSN 0279-6848) is published monthly exceptNovember (twice monthly) by TSR, Inc., 201 Sheridan Springs Road, LakeGeneva, WI 53147, United States of America. The postal address for allmaterials from the United States of America and Canada except subscription orders is: DRAGON® Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Road, takeGeneva, WI 53147, U.S.A.; telephone (414) 248-3625; fax (414) 248-0389.The postal address for materials from Europe is: DRAGON Magazine, TSRLtd., 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge CB1 3LB, United Kingdom;telephone: (0223) 212517 (U.K.), 44-223-212517 (international); telex:818761; fax (0223) 248066 (U.K.), 414-223-238066 (international).

Distribution: DRAGON Magazine is available from game and hobbyshops throughout the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, andthrough a limited number of other overseas outlets. Distribution to thebook trade in the United States is by Random House, Inc., and in Canada

Another topic that troubles me is cardgames and dice games in general. I amglad that articles on role-playing videogames are gone from DRAGON Magazine’spages, but I am alarmed to see that cardgames and dice games are starting tosqueeze their way in. One quick way toget me not to renew my DRAGON

Magazine subscription is to increase thenumber of pages on which card anddice games appear. I suspect my wordsare falling on deaf ears with the latestarrival of the new DRAGONLANCE®: FIFTHAGEN™ product, the marriage of theSPELLFIRE® and AD&D® games. The AD&Dgame is a role playing game. It has sur-vived since the early seventies. Thesecard and dice games are a fad played bythe young. The AD&D game is played byadults; we have the real money to investin gaming, and we are here for the longhaul (or Monty Haul, in some cases).

OK, enough of the doom and gloom,and now for the good things. DRAGON

Magazine issue #233 is looking good.Let’s see why.

“Going to Court.” I got a lot of nastypolitical ideas from this one. Good work.GREYHAWK campaigns are often quitecerebral, and articles that develop thenon-combative aspects of the game arean asset.

“On Wings of Eagles”, this looks a lotlike the article you guys did on the“Winged Folk” over 12 years ago, rightdown to those ability scores. I’m oldenough to remember. Please, norewarmed leftovers. Even if you added abunch of new stuff on their culture andrevised it to second edition attributes. Ithought the elf’s handbook did a fine job.

“Fiendish Fortresses.” I don’t use thePLANESCAPE® setting, but I like these forts,they seem the perfect vacation spot forhigh-level adventurers who need to behumbled. Good work!

“Wyrms of the North.” I don’t use theFORGOTTEN REALMS® campaign, but myToril DMs liked the article. If they liked it,you did a service to FR fans, so I like it. (Igot a few good ideas and spells secretly).

“Scions of the Desert,” good work,support the worlds specifically. My

by Random House of Canada, Ltd. Distribution to the book trade in theUnited Kingdom is by TSR Ltd. Send orders to: Random House, Inc., OrderEntry Department, Westminster MD 21157, U.S.A.; telephone: (800) 733-3000. Newsstand distribution throughout the United Kingdom is byComag Magazine Marketing, Tavistock Road, West Drayton, MiddlesexUB7 7QE, United Kingdom; telephone: 0895-444055.

Subscription: Subscription rates via periodical-class mail are as fol-lows: $42 in U.S. funds for 13 issues sent to an address in the U.S.; $49in US funds for 13 ,issues sent to an address in Canada, £36 for 13issues sent to an address within the United Kingdom, £49 for 13 issuessent to an address in Europe, $65 in US funds for 13 issues sent by sur-face mail to any other address, or $119 in U.S. funds for 13 issues sentair mail to any other address Payment in full must accompany all sub-scription orders. Methods of payment include checks or mail orders

AL-QADIM® setting DM thanks you.“Dragon Dice,” page 53. No comment

for the betterment of our relationship.(smile)

“Bazaar of the Bizarre”, More toys forthe pile, I guess the ENCYCLOPEDIA MAGICA™tome is in need of revising again. MaybeI’ll find some use for them, or they willbe used in a module in DUNGEON®Adventures. Not bad.

“Rod of Seven Parts, World by World”,Best article in the issue for two reasons.First, the GREYHAWK setting is mentioned.It is mentioned first, and not in passing.Second, Skip Williams wrote it, and Skipprinted one of my mind flayer questionsin “Sage Advice.” Skip Williams rules!

Well done to all!“Knights of the Dinner Table,” I roared

laughing. To think I didn’t like this comicat first. Well done.

I think you guys are on the righttrack. Just for the record, you know I willbe renewing my subscription. Who elsewill I be able to complain to or praise?

Frank V. Bonura147 East Maple Street

Valley Stream, NY 11580

Can we rule with Skip now that we’veprinted your letter in “D-Mail?” How about ifwe print more GREYHAWK articles for you?(More are on the way.)

We appreciate your criticism as much asyour praise, though we must correct onemisconception in your letter. Except that itincludes some rather nice cards, the FIFTH

AGE role-playing game isn’t at all likeSPELLFIRE or any collectible card game. (Itisn’t collectible at all; you never need to buyextra cards.) The use of the cards is moreakin to the Tarokka deck from theRAVENLOFT® campaign setting, and eventhat’s not a fair comparison, since they’reused very differently. Take a peek at theboxed set sometime, and you’ll see what wemean.

As for the notion of going bi-monthly,we’re afraid a mob of angry readers wouldshow up at our offices if we even jokedabout it in reply to your... wait. What’s thatnoise outside? What’s with the torches andpitchforks? Hey! Somebody call 911!

made payable to TSR, Inc., or charges to valid MasterCard or VISA creditcards, send subscription orders with payments to TSR, Inc., P.O. Box5695, Boston MA 02206, U.S.A. In the United Kingdom, methods of pay-ment Include cheques or money orders made payable to TSR Ltd., orcharges to a valid ACCESS or VISA credit card; send subscription orderswith payments to TSR Ltd., as per that address above. Prices are subjectto change without prior notice. The issue expiration of each subscriptionis printed on the mailing label of each subscriber’s copy of the magazine.Changes of address for the delivery of subscription copies must bereceived at least six weeks prior to the effective date of the change inorder to assure uninterrupted delivery.

Submissions: All material published in DRAGON Magazine becomes theexclusive property of the pubilsher, unless special arrangements to thecontrary are made prior to publication DRAGON Magazine welcomes unso-

6 NOVEMBER 1996

Dear DRAGON Magazine,As often as I disagreed with John C.

Bunnell’s often nitpicky critiques, Ialways enjoyed reading his column. Ihope he appears in future issues,because in comparison “Bookwyrms”seems really watered down. I like tohear what people think about books,and I like to debate about them.“Bookwyrms” offers nothing to pushagainst. At least tell us who’s writingabout each book.

Also, did Kiaransalee kill Orcus? Doesasking that out of the blue decrease thechances of this seeing print?

Rip Van WormerMidland, MI

Check out the initials at the end of eachrecommendation in “Bookwyrms” andcompare it to the masthead; these are staffrecommendations. You’re right that theyaren’t reviews. So much cool fiction isreleased each month that our purpose is topoint out the ones we think readers will likebest, so there’ll never be a pan in the col-umn, only positive recommendations.

John does an excellent job of reviewingbooks (we think so even when we don’tagree with him, too!), and his column willcontinue to appear every other month. Onthose months that we offer “Bookwyrms,”please don’t hesitate to write in if you dis-agree with a recommendation or want tomake one of your own.

As for your question, we can only hintthat you may find your answer in 1997.

On the Cover

This month is another first forDragon Magazine. Over the lasttwo decades we've earned a repu-tation for the quality of our illus-trated covers. A quick scan overour back issues shows a virtualwho's who of the genre, as manyof the finest illustrators working inSF and fantasy have been show-cased there,

We're equally proud of themany up and comers who gainedtheir first major audience on ourcover and proceeded to carve outsuccessful art careers.

While the computer is nostranger to this magazine (nostranger than, say the staff any-way), our November issue boaststhe first 100% digital cover imagewe've ever used. We owe it all toEddie over at Interplay who builtthe model and created this digitalwyrm for the new Descent toUndermountain computer game.

Dear DRAGON Magazine,I have been playing the AD&D game

for a number of years now, and I amvery satisfied with everything I havebought from TSR.

Recently I purchased a number ofPLANESCAPE boxed sets and books, and I

found that they are well worth the highprice. However, within the pages of yourmagazine, it is a rare occurrence at bestto find an article expanding my favoritesetting.

I understand that you prefer to pub-lish articles that appear to the greatestmajority of your readers. While it isunlikely that a great majority of yourreaders own a lot of PLANESCAPE prod-ucts, I think that anything from aPLANESCAPE campaign can fit into anyprime-material campaign very easily. Allthe DM needs to do is open a conve-nient portal, and any number of thingscan be imported to his campaign world.

I appreciate that you took the time toread my suggestion, and I would like tothank you in advance for answeringwith a serious reply. (Please don’t justsay, “We appreciate your input, and wewill consider it when we choose arti-cles.”)

Mark BernerMoorestown, NJ

We appreciate your input, and we willconsider ... Oh, what the heck. Here’s ahuge PLANESCAPE article in this issue. In fact,we’ve put one in the DRAGON MagazineAnnual for you, too.

You’re right about why we’re planning tocontinue supporting the AD&D gamer firstand foremost, but that doesn’t mean we’llforget about the many fans of the variousTSR worlds. Whenever possible (as with thisissue’s “Planar Heroes” article), we’ll do ourbest to present campaign-specific articlesthat are also very useful to those who don’tuse that setting. (We agree with you aboutthe ease of conversions.) Let us know whenyou think we succeed or fail at that goal.

Give 'em a hand, because they gave us one

The staff of Dragon Magazine would like to extend a special thanks to DaveConant and Terry Craig (of the TSR Service Bureau), as well as Sean Reynolds (theTSR Online coordinator on AOL) and Chris Perkins (freelancer at large) for theirinvaluable help in this and other issues of Dragon Magazine, especially the Annual.We couldn't have done it without them. Send your thank-you notes to our address!

sibilty for such submissions can be assumed by the publisher in anyevent. Any submisson accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped enve-lope of sufficient size will be returned if it cannot be published. Westrongly recommend that prospective authors write for our writers' guide-lines before sending an article to us. In the United States and Canada,send a self-addressed, stamped envelope (9 ½” long preferred) to Writers’Guldelines, c/o DRAGON Magazine, at the above address, include sufficientAmerican postage or lnternational Reply Coupons (IRC) with the returnenvelope. In Europe, wnte to: Writers’ Guidelines, c/o DRAGON Magazine,TSR Ltd., include sufficient lnternational Reply Coupons with your SASE.

Advertising: For information on placing advertisements in DRAGONMagazine, ask for our rate card. All ads are subject to approval by TSR,Inc. TSR reserves the right to reject any ad for any reason. In the United

of TSR, Inc. Therefore, TSR will not be held accountable for opinions or201 Sheridan Springs Road, Lake Geneva WI 53147. U.S.A. In Europe, misinformation contained in such material.contact: Advertising Coordinators, TSR Ltd. ® designates registered trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.™ designates

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DRAGON is a registered trademark of TSR, Inc. Registration applied for by TSR, Inc.in the United Kingdom. All rights to the contents of this publication are Periodical-class postage paid at Lake Geneva, Wis., U.S.A., and addition-reserved, and nothing may be reproduced from it in whole or in part al mailing offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to DRAGON Magazine,without first obtaining permission in writing from the publisher. Material TSR, Inc., 201 Sheridan Springs Road, Lake Geneva WI 53147, U.S.A.published in DRAGON® Magazine does not necessarily reflect the opinions USPS 318-790, ISSN 0279-6848.

DRAGON #235 7

This article provides Skills & Powers options to create planarPCs for the PLANESCAPE setting. In order to make cross-referenc-ing easier, this article follows the organizational structure ofPLAYER’S OPTION™: Skills & Powers. The article incorporates variousmaterial presented in many Planescape products, so players cre-ating characters using this article should have access to thePlayer’s Handbook (PHB), Tome of Magic (TOM), PLANESCAPE

Campaign Setting (CS), Planewalker’s Handbook (PWH), Factol’sManifesto, PLAYER'SO PTION: Skills & Powers (S&P), and the PLANESCAPE

MONSTROUS COMPENDIUM® tomes volumes I & II (PMC1 & PMC2).The ongoing revolution in PC customization for the AD&D®

game has been a major force in reshaping the way gamers cre-ate and play characters. As seen in the three PLAYER’S OPTION

handbooks (Skills & Powers, Combat & Tactics, and Spells & Magic),players can choose from a variety of options, creating a uniquePC. The options from these books work fine in standard cam-paigns like the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting, but this is not the casewhen creating unusual PCs from specialized campaign settingslike the PLANESCAPE setting, where bizarre races are the norm.

It is well-known that folks living on the planes are subjectedto the ever-present planar energies surrounding them. The folksout here are sometimes called “planetouched,” because expo-sure to these planar energies grants them abilities above andbeyond their prime counterparts. It would be a rare blood whocould live out here and not be influenced in some way.

1. Character pointsThe S&P rules introduced character points (CPs) as the means

to acquire abilities and proficiencies for a PC. Rather than playa rigidly defined standard character as provided in the PHB,each player has a number of points with which to customize aPC. The CPs allotted depends on the race and class chosen.Points are expended for race and class options and for profi-ciencies but may also be spent in other ways, such as to acquirea new spell, re-roll a missed attack, or grant a second save. Fora complete list of ways to spend CPs, see chapter 1 of S&P.

PLANESCAPE PCs are generated by using one of the six meth-ods listed in the PHB. After a PC has been rolled, the player cre-ates a background for the PC. Players may select one of thechoices in S&P or devise a history uniquely tailored to planarlife using the character archetypes found in the PWH.

Abilities cost 5, 10, 15, or 20 CPs. Some options allow a playerto impose limitations on their characters for bonus CPs that canthen be spent to obtain other abilities. At any stage of PC creation,only 5 points may be retained for later use.

2. Ability scoresAfter rolling ability scores, the player selects the PC’s race.

Ability scores are modified according to the race chosen. Racialability modifiers for the standard AD&D races such as elves,dwarves, and gnomes may be found in the PHB or S&P andremain unchanged in the planes. Racial ability score modifica-tions for all PLANESCAPE PC races (aasimar, bariaurs, genasi, githz-erai, rogue modrons, and tieflings) are listed in the PWH.

As detailed in S&P, a PC’s ability scores may be split into sub-abilities. Players exercising this option for PLANESCAPE charactersmay increase one sub-ability at the expense of diminishing theother. For each ability score, there may be no more than 4points difference between the sub-abilities.

Note: Some options offer a bonus point to one sub-ability.Characters taking these options are allowed a 5-6 point differ-ence in sub-ability scores.

3. Racial requirementsEach PC starts with a number

Race CP AllotmentAasimar 40

of character points dependent Bariaur (male & female) 30

on race. Points can be spent toDwarf 45Elf 45

customize a character from the Genasi, all 25

skill list provided for each race, Githzerai 30Gnome 45

or they can be used to purchase Halfling 35

the race’s standard skill pack- Half-Elf 25Half-Orc 15

age. Planar dwarves, elves, Half-Ogre 15

gnomes, halflings, half-elves, Human 10

ha l f -o rcs , ha l f -og res , andRogue Modron 40Tiefling 40

humans receive the same num-ber of CPs as their Prime counterparts in S&P. Players creatinga PC from one of these standard races can mix options foundin S&P with the new planar racial options. Races unique to theplanes, such as tieflings and githzerai, are completely cus-tomizable with the options presented here.

Notes on magic resistance: Most races living on the planeshave developed some magic resistance. This resistance can beeither specific, like the elven ability to resist charms, or broad,like the powerful magic resistance of githzerai and aasimar. PCswho opt for broad magic resistance fall under the same restric-tions as those listed for githzerai in the CS. (In addition to pro-tecting a PC from magic, MR can affect what magical items acharacter can use and prevent beneficial magic from aiding him.)As some magic-resistant PCs rise in level, they experiencegreater difficulty using newly acquired magical items or whenreceiving benevolent magic. The magic resistance rules in the CSshould be used in all cases except those of single class wizards,who must no longer forego magic resistance to be wizards.

All RacesThe unique nature of the planes can affect its inhabitants.

Sometimes different populations exhibit the same planetouchedabilities. The following options are available to all PCs in additionto those listed for each race. Regardless of whether a playerselects any of the options below, all planar PCs have the com-mon, innate ability to perceive planar portals at will. This abilitycosts no CPs.

Alignment Affinity (5): The PC is instantly aware of anybeings within 20’ who possess the same alignment as himself.For example, a paladin knows when a lawful good aasimar hasjust stepped behind him but does not learn the alignment of thelawful neutral good deva crossing in front of him unless heemploys some other means of divination.

Magical Perception (10): Regardless of whether the PC is aspellcaster, he understands how the unique nature of his homeplane affects magic. This includes which schools of magic areaffected, how it is affected, and why (“You’re on Mechanusberk — wild magic is useless here and against the law.”). Thisability does not provide other magical insight, such as spellkeys.

Planar Recognition (5): Upon sight, the PC instantly recog-nizes any beings who originate from his home plane as a fel-low native. Only true natives of the PC’s plane can be dis-cerned. This ability does not grant the ability to recognizethose who migrated to the PC’s home plane from anotherplane. The PC does not gain any other information about thebeings he encounters.

Planar Resistance (5): The PC receives a +3 bonus to allsaves vs. any naturally occurring phenomena on his homeplane (plane of birth).

DRAGON #235 9

AasimarStandard abilities: Cold resistance, fire

resistance, infravision, magic resistance,mental fortitude, surprise bonus.

Aasimon bloodline - major I (10):The PC is immune to all forms of gasattacks.

Aasimon bloodline - major II (15):The PC is immune to poison.

Aasimon powers - minor (10): Oncea day, the PC can cast cure light wounds,dispel magic, or protecfion from normalmissiles. At 7th level, the PC can cast allthese abilities once a day.

Aasimon powers - major (15): Oncea week, the PC can cast heal, holy word,or spell turning. At 9th level, the PC cancast all these abilities once a week.

Armor bonus (5): The PC gains anadditional +1 AC bonus when wearingany metal armor.

Celestial skin (15): The PC can be hitonly by magical weapons.

Cold resistance (5/15): The PC suffershalf damage from all cold attacks for 5CPs. For 15 points, the PC suffers halfdamage from cold until 9th level, whenthe PC becomes completely immune tothe cold.

Confer (10): With this option, an aasi-mar may temporarily confer one of hisracial abilities on a worthy being ofgood for the next 24 hours. The acttakes one round and requires the aasi-mar to touch the recipient. The PC losesthat ability until 24 hours have elapsed,at which time he regains the ability. ThePC cannot cancel this conferral once ithas taken place. This sacrifice is nottaken lightly.

Detect lie (5): The PC may cast detectlie once a day.

Eladrin bloodline - major (10): PC isimmune to magic missiles.

Eladrin powers - minor (10): Once aday, the PC may cast alter self compre-hend languages, or slow poison. At 7thlevel, the PC can cast all of these abilitiesonce a day.

Eladrin powers - major (15): Once aweek, the aasimar may cast minor globeof invulnerability, polymorph self or wall offorce. At 9th level, the PC can cast allthese spells once a week.

Fire resistance (5): PC suffers halfdamage from all fire attacks.

Guardinal bloodline - major (15): PCis immune to all electrical attacks.

Guardinal powers - minor (10): Oncea day, the PC can cast light, magic missile,or profection from evil 15’ radius. At 7thlevel, the PC can cast all these abilitiesonce a day.

Guardinal powers - major (15): Oncea week, the PC can cast hold monster,lightning bolt, or wall of ice. At 9th level,the PC can cast all of these abilities oncea week.

Holy regeneration (10): While on anyof the Upper Planes of Good, the PCregenerates hit points at the rate of 1hp/round.

lnfravision (5): PC possesses infravi-sion to 60’.

Intuition bonus (10): PC raisesWisdom/Intuition sub-ability by +1.

Know alignment (5): The PC may castknow alignment once a day.

Lightform (10): Once a day, the PCmay assume a lightform similar in func-tion to the wizard spell wraithform(except this ability accesses an extra-dimensional space, not the etherealplane). Once activated, the PC is identi-cal in appearance to a light aasimon(PMC1). At 5th level, the PC can assumea lightform twice a day.

Magic resistance (10): PC has 10%magic resistance.

Mental fortitude (5): +2 to savingthrows against charm, fear, emotion, anddomination type spells.

Muscle bonus (10): PC raisesStrength/Muscle sub-ability by +1.

Power of life (20): As a direct descen-dent of the forces of life and goodness,the aasimar is immune to death magicand level draining spells and attackssuch as those from undead. The PC is notimmune, however, to aging effects suchas an attack from a ghost or a haste spell.

Rilmani bloodline: minor (10): PC suf-fers half damage from acid attacks.

Rilmani powers - minor (10): Once aday, the PC can cast blur, fly or mirrorimage. At 7th level, the PC can cast allthese spells once a day.

Rilmani powers - major (15): Once aweek, the PC can cast advanced illusion,improved invisibility or solid fog. At 9thlevel, the PC can cast all of these abilitiesonce a week.

Surprise bonus (5): The PC’s unnaturalhearing and other-planar alertness granta +1 to all surprise checks.

Stamina bonus (10): The PC raisesStrength/Stamina sub-ability by +1.

Sword bonus (5): The PC gains +1 tohit with any sword.

Telepathy (5): At will, the PC can com-municate telepathically with any aasi-mon, eladrin, guardinal, rilmani, or otherintelligent being of the same alignmentwithin a 20’ radius.

Willpower bonus (10): PC raisesWisdom/Willpower sub-ability by +1.

Racial weakness optionsSome aasimar may inherit weaknesses

from their Upper Planar parents. AasimarPCs may select any or all of the followingracial weaknesses to receive bonus CPs topurchase additional racial traits.

Iron weakness (5): PC suffers doubledamage from any iron weapons.

Lower planar disorientation (5): Thegood nature of PC comes into severeconflict with the overwhelming evil ofthe lower planes. On any lower plane,the aasimar becomes extremely uncom-fortable and nauseous suffering a -4 toTHAC0 and AC as well as a -4 to all sur-prise checks.

Susceptibility to fiendish magic (5):The PC is more susceptible to the foul,unwholesome magics cast by fiends. PCreceives a -1 to all saves vs. magic usedby fiends and also suffers an extra pointof damage per die rolled from offensivespells employed by fiends.

Unholy water vulnerability (5): ThePC suffers 2d4 hp damage from a directhit of unholy water. A splash of unholywater inflicts 1d4 hp damage.

BariaurStandard male abilities: Charge,

head butt, infravision.Standard female abilities: Infravision,

spell resistance, surprise bonus.Back kick (5): The PC can kick an

opponent to his rear with his hind legs for3d6 damage and no penalty to THAC0.

Charge (10): Male PCs may causetriple damage with a head butt by charg-ing an opponent. The PC needs at least30’ running distance to perform thisattack successfully.

Club bonus (5): Any club the PCwields in both hands has the speed fac-tor and damage of a 2-handed sword.

Fitness bonus (10): Male PC gains a+1 to the Constitution/Fitness sub-ability.

Head butt (5): Male PC may attackwith his horns for 1d8 hp damage plusStrength bonus. Should the PC alsoselect Hoof Attack, then he receives 3attacks per round.

Health bonus (10): Male PC raisesConstitution/Health sub-ability by +1.

Hoof attack (10): PC can attack withboth hooves in one combat round caus-ing 1d6 points of damage per hoof,

Improved movement rate (5): ThisPC is one of the fastest of the race pos-sessing a movement rate of 21.

Infravision (10): PC possesses infravi-sion to 60’.

Intuition bonus (10): Female PC gainsa +1 to the Wisdom/Intuition sub-ability.

10 NOVEMBER 1996

Knowledge bonus (10): The femalePC gains +1 to the Intelligence/Knowl-edge sub-ability.

Lawbreaker (5): The wildly chaoticnature of bariaurs makes them naturallyresistant to the influences of law. The PCreceives a +1 bonus to all save vs. spellsagainst magic from the priestly sphereof law or magic cast by lawful creatures.

Magic resistance (10): The PC pos-sesses 10% magic resistance.

Muscle bonus (10): The male PC gains+1 to the Strength/Muscle sub-ability.

Poison save bonus (5): Because of hishearty constitution, the male PC receivesa +2 to all poison saves.

Reason bonus (10): The female PCgains +1 to the Intelligence/Reasonsub-ability.

Spell resistance (10): The female PCgains +3 to all saving throws vs. spells.

Spear bonus (5): The PC gains +1 toattacks with any spear.

Stamina bonus (10): The male PC gains+1 to the Strength/Stamina sub-ability.

Surprise bonus (5): The female PCgains +2 on all surprise checks.

Tough hide (10): The PC’s thick skinand fur give him a tough hide grantinga natural AC of 8.

Trample (10): On a successful attackwith both hooves, the bariaur hasknocked down his opponent and auto-matically tramples him also. A trampledvictim suffers an additional 2d6 hp dam-age, has a -2 penalty to his AC, and mustspend the remainder of the round get-ting back up on his feet. This attackaffects only humanoids of M size orsmaller. The PC must first select HoofAttack to choose this option.

Willpower bonus (10): The female PCgains a +1 to the Wisdom/Willpowersub-ability.

GenasiAll genasi may select from this list of

shared half-elemental traits in additionto traits peculiar to their specific element.

Ignore element (5): Genasi canignore his element (magical and non-magical) for a number of rounds equalto his experience level once a day.

Elemental empowerment (5): Elemen-tal spells or abilities employed by the PCare treated as if he were one experiencelevel higher. Option may be taken multi-ple times for increased effect.

Elemental form (10): Once a day, thePC can polymorph into an elemental ofthe PCs element.

Elemental regeneration (10): Whenthe PC rests immersed in his element as

it occurs naturally, he regenerates at arate of 1 hp/turn.

Elemental resistance (5/15): The PCgains a 30% resistance vs. all attacksagainst his element. For 15 points, thePC is completely immune to his element.This option cannot be taken with magicresistance option.

Etherealness (10): Once a day, the PCcan enter the ethereal plane from any ofthe inner planes or prime material planeor if already within the Border Ethereal,the PC can enter an inner plane or primematerial plane world.

Infravision (5): The PC possesses 60’infravision.

Magic resistance (10): The PC pos-sesses a 10% resistance to all magic.

Para-elemental resistance (5): ThePC receives a +2 to all saving throwsfrom any para-elemental attacks associ-ated with the PC’s element (e.g., firegenasi receive this bonus against ashand magma attacks).

Quasi-elemental resistance (5): ThePC receives a +2 to all saving throwsfrom any quasi-elemental attacks asso-ciated with the PC’s element (e.g., watergenasi receive this bonus against steamand salt attacks).

Saving throw bonus (5): The PCreceives a +1 bonus to all saving throwsvs. spells and magic of his own elementfor every five experience levels.

Genasi, airStandard abilities: Non-respiration,

levitate, saving throw bonus.Aim bonus (10): The PC gains +1 to

the Dexterity/Aim sub-ability.Air boat (10): At 9th level, the PC can

call down an air boat once a week.Balance bonus (10): The PC gains +1

to the Dexterity/ Balance sub-ability.Elemental powers, minor (10): Once

a day, the PC can cast fly, stinking cloud,or wind wall. At 7th level, the PC can useall of these abilities once a day.

Elemental powers, major (15): Oncea week, the PC can cast air walk, solid fog,or suffocafe. At 9th level, the PC can useall of these abilities once a week.

Feather fall (5): The PC can cast feath-er fall once a day for every three experi-ence levels possessed.

Non-respiration (10): The PC need nolonger breathe.

Knowledge bonus (10): PC gains +1 tothe Intelligence/Knowledge sub-ability.

Levitate (5): Genasi can Ievitate once aday as a 5th level wizard.

Reason bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Intelligence/Reason sub-ability.

Genasi, earthStandard abilities: Stony skin, saving

throw bonus.Elemental powers, minor (10): Once

a day, the PC can cast fist of stone, maxi-milian’s stony grasp, or meld into stone. At7th level, the PC can use all of these abil-ities once a day.

Elemental powers, major (15): Oncea week, the genasi can cast move earth,stone shape, or wall of stone. At 9th level,the PC can use all of these abilities oncea week.

Fitness bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Constitution/ Fitness sub-ability.

Health bonus (10): The PC gains +1 tothe Constitution/Health sub-ability.

Muscle bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Strength/Muscle sub-ability.

Pass without trace (5): The PC canpass without trace once per day as a 5thlevel priest.

Passwall (10): Once a day at 5th level,the PC can cast a passwall except that thisability affects only stone or earth.

Reverse gravity (10): At 9th level, thePC can reverse gravity once a week.

Stamina bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Strength/ Stamina sub-ability.

Stony skin (10): The PC has a naturallyrock hard AC of 8.

Genasi, fireStandard abilities: Affect fire, fire immu-

nity, infravision, saving throw bonus.Affect fire (5): The PC can affect normal

fires once per day as a 5th level wizard.Elemental powers, minor (10): Once

a day, the PC can cast flame arrow, flamewalk, or heat metal. At 7th level, the PCcan use all of these abilities once a day.

Elemental powers, major (15): Oncea week, the PC can cast fire shield, malec-keth’s flame fist, or wall of fire. At 9th level,the PC can use all of these abilities oncea week.

Fire immunity (5): The PC is immuneto normal, non-magical fire.

Knowledge bonus (10): The PC gains+1 to the Intelligence/Knowledgesub-ability.

Produce flame (5): The PC can pro-duce flame once a day for every threeexperience levels.

Reason bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Intelligence/ Reason sub-ability.

Surprise fireball (10): At 7th level, thePC can cast a delayed blast fireball once aweek.

Genasi, waterStandard abilities: Create water, sav-

ing throw bonus, water breathing.

DRAGON #235 11

Acid storm (10): At 7th level, the PCcan create an acid storm once a week.

Bestow water breathing (10): Once aday for every three experience levels,the PC can bestow water breathing (or itsreverse) on any creature other thanhimself.

Create water (5/10): Genasi can createwater once a day as a 5th-level priest.For 10 points, the PC can cast improvedcreate water (reverse of transmute waterto dust) as a 5th-level priest.

Elemental powers, minor (10): The PCpossesses the innate ability to castlower/raise water, insatiable thirst, or waterydouble once a day. At 7th level, the PCcan use all of these abilities once a day.

Elemental powers, major (15): Oncea week, the PC can to cast abi-dalzim’shorrid wilting, part water, or wall of ice. At9th level, the PC can use all of these abil-ities once a week.

Fitness bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Constitution/ Fitness sub-ability.

Health bonus (10): PC gains +1 to theConstitution/ Health sub-ability.

Water breathing (10): The PCbreathes water.

Genasi vulnerabilitiesAll genasi may inherit certain weak-

nesses from their elemental parentage.Genasi PCs may select any or all of thefollowing racial weaknesses for bonusCPs to purchase additional racial traits:

Elemental damage (+5/+10): The PCsuffers additional damage from elemen-tal attacks not of his own element. For 5points, the PC suffers +1 to damage perdie rolled. For 10 points, the PC suffers+2 damage per die.

Elemental hatred (+5): The PC despiseshis opposition element and always seeksto destroy without question or hesitationanyone strongly associated with theopposition element (such as natives ofthat elemental plane, specialist wizardsand specialty priests of the opposingelement, etc.).

Elemental vulnerability (+5): The PCsuffers a -1 penalty to all saves from ele-mental attacks not of his own element.

GithzeraiStandard abilities: Infravision, magic

resistance.Aim bonus (10): The PC gains +1 to

the Dexterity/Aim sub-ability.Balance bonus (10): The PC gains +1

to the Dexterity/Balance sub-ability.ESP (10): The PC can cast ESP once a

day. At 9th level, the PC can cast ESPtwice a day.

lnfravision (10): The PC possessesinfravision to 60’.


Lesser magic resistance (10): The PCpossesses magic resistance equal to2%/level. This option cannot be takenwith the magic resistance option.

Lower resistance (10): Once a day,the PC can attempt to lower his magicresistance by effecting lower resistanceon himself only.

Limbo powers (5): As a native ofLimbo, the PC gains a movement rate of96 while in Limbo and also suffers no illeffects from the roiling, primal matter ofthat chaotic plane.

Magic resistance (15): PC receivesmagic resistance equal to 5%/level.

Mental assault (10): The PC can castfeeblemind once a week for every fiveexperience levels.

Mental shielding (10): Once a week,the githzerai PC can cast mind blank.

Mind guard (5): The PC gains +1 to allsaves vs. mind affecting spells and psionics.

Plane shift (10): Once a day, the PCcan plane shift (himself alone) to anyother plane he has previously visited.This ability takes one full round to acti-vate. If the PC is interrupted during acti-vation of this power, the power fails.

Racial enmity (5): The PC’s extremehatred of githyanki grants him a +2 tohit on all attacks against githyanki.

Rrakkma hunter (5): The PC gains +2to hit against the despised gith slavemasters of ages past — the mind flayers.


Renegade (5): The PC has secretlydecided to advance in level beyond theartificial limits set by the githzerai wiz-ard-king (i.e., the PC has no level limits inany chosen classes). Once a renegadegithzerai’s decision becomes known, herarely survives for long, as any suchblasphemous githzerai are quickly hunt-ed down by the wizard-king’s forces.

Silver sword (5): At 5th level, the PC,if in good standing with his people, isrewarded with a special two-handedsilver sword +3. If used on the AstralPlane, the silver sword has a 5% chanceof cutting an opponent’s silver cordupon scoring a hit. These weapons havea significant religious value to the githz-erai, who would never willingly let themfall into the hands of outsiders.

Sword bonus (5): The PC gains +1 tohit with any sword of githzerai make.

Xenophobe (5): Fearful and hateful of

nearly all sentient creatures not of hisown race, the PC is always on the alertfor outside treachery and attack. The PCreceives a +3 to all surprise checks. Notethat while a xenophobic githzerai maybe able to suppress displays of his xeno-phobic nature most of the time, suchstrong emotions are ever-present underthe surface, just waiting for a chance tobe expressed.

Zerth bonus (5): The PC is a zerth,part of a religious sect who worship thememory of the legendary githzerai hero,Zerthimon. PC gains a 5% bonus to allXP when actively worshipping as a zerthand also receives a +4 reaction modifierwhen dealing with any githzerai (allgithzerai value such worship in othergithzerai). DMs may decide on the formsuch hero worship takes such as joiningrrakkma bands, spreading the word ofZerthimon or hunting githyanki on aregular basis.

Rogue modronStandard abilities: Armor, detect

doors, resist unlawful influences, savingthrow bonus, superior sight.

Armor (10/15): The PC possesses atough, semi-metallic skin allowing a nat-ural AC of 8. For 15 points, the roguemodron has enhanced armor grantingan AC of 6.

Detect doors (5): The PC has a 2-in-6chance of discovering secret doors anda 3 in 6 chance of detecting concealeddoors.

Detect lie (5): The PC can detect lieonce a day.

Fitness bonus (10): The PC gains +1to the Constitution/Fitness sub-ability.

Four arms (10): The PC possesses anextra pair of mechanical arms which canbe used to wield another weapon andcarry a shield (much like a thri-kreen PC).

Health bonus (10): Constitution/Health sub-ability raised by +1.

lnfravision (5): The PC possesses 120’infravision.


Magic resistance (10): The PC receivesmagic resistance equal to 2% per expe-rience level.

Modron powers, minor (10): Once aday, the PC can cast clairaudience, clair-voyance, or command. At 7th level, PCcan use all of these abilities once a day.

Modron powers, major (15): Once aweek, the PC can use its innate ability tocast dimension door, teleport without error,

Continued on page 17

12 NOVEMBER 1996

or wall of force. At 9th level, PC can useall of these abilities once a week.


Resist chaos (5): The PC receives a +1to all saves vs. wild magic, spells cast bychaotic individuals, and spells from thepriest sphere of chaos.

Resist unlawful influences (10): ThePC has a 30% resistance to illusions,energy drains, charm, sleep, fear, domina-tion, and other mind-affecting spells.

Saving throw bonus (5): The PC pos-sesses the modronic resistance to fire,cold, and acid gaining a +1 to all savingthrows vs. any such attacks.

Sense modrons (5): Ever alert to thefact that it may be captured by a mod-ron patrol and returned for judgment onMechanus, the PC can detect at will allmodrons within 60 yards. Detectionrequires the modron’s full concentrationfor each round to be maintained.

Superior sight (5): The PC’s vision isdouble the normal range of sight.

Telepathy (5): At will, the PC can con-verse telepathically with any creature oflawful alignment.

Winged modron (10): The PC pos-sesses a pair of wings allowing flight(MV 15, MC D).

TieflingStandard abilities: Cold resistance,

darkness, electricity save bonus, firesave bonus, infravision, poison savebonus.

Ambidextrous (5): The PC is ambidex-trous and can fight equally well with twoweapons with no attack penalty asrangers. Tiefling must use weapons he isproficient in.

Appearance bonus (10): The PC gains+1 to the Appearance/Charisma sub-ability.

Baatorian bloodline (15): Somewherein the past, one of the PC’s humanancestors became romantically involvedwith a resident of Baator — most likelyan erinyes. This diabolical blood tie hasgiven the tiefling a complete immunityto fire.

Baatorian powers — minor (10): Oncea day, the PC can cast command, fireball,or know alignment. At 7th level, tieflingcan enact all these abilities once a day.

Baatorian powers — major (15): Oncea week, the PC can cast fear, improvedinvisibility, or wall of fire. At 9th level,tiefling can enact all these abilities oncea week.

Bladeling flesh (10): The PC is granteda metallic natural AC 5 inherited from

his bladeling ancestry. An unfortunateside-effect from this option is that thetiefling suffers double damage from anyheat metal spells and rust dragon breathattacks.

Choice weapon (5): The PC gains +1to hit when using any one of the follow-ing weapons: long sword, stiletto, throw-ing dagger, long spear, ranseur, handcrossbow, scimitar, or punch dagger.

Cold resistance (10): The PC suffershalf damage from cold attacks.

Darkform (10): Once a day, the tieflingmay assume a darkform similar in func-tion to the wizard spell wraithform. Onceactivated, the tiefling appears as a shad-owy humanoid shape filled with dark,roiling clouds. At 5th level, the PC canactivate this power twice a day.

Darkness (5): Once a day, the PC cancast darkness 15’ radius.

Electricity save bonus (5): The PCgains +2 bonus to all saves vs. electricalattacks.

Fiendish hide (15): The PC can be hitonly by weapons enchanted to +1 orbetter.

Fiendish wings (10): The PC sports alarge pair of leathery, fiendish-lookingwings from his back that allows flight(MV 15, MC C).

Fire save bonus (5): +2 bonus to allsaves vs. fire.

Gas resistance (10): The PC suffershalf damage from gas attacks.

Hellraiser (10): The PC is invigoratedwhen on any of the lower planes, provid-ing a temporary boost to his primeattribute (1d4 points added to primeattribute ability score). A PC with morethan one prime attribute, such as a multi-classed PC, has only one attribute deter-mined randomly raised in this way. Thisboost cannot be made permanent andends once the PC leaves the lower planes.

Hordling bloodline (10): The PC’shordling ancestry has granted the PC anunpredictable magic resistance. Every24 hours, the PC rolls a 1d6 to deter-mine his magic resistance for the day(1 =1%; 2=50%; 3=10%; 4=15%; 5=30%;6=60%).

Howl from pandemonium (10): Oncea day at 5th level, tiefling can emit amind-jarring howl that affects all beingswithin 30’ of the PC as if targeted by achaos spell.

Infravision (5): The PC possessesinfravision to 60’.

Knowledge bonus (10): The PC gains+1 to the Intelligence/Knowledge sub-ability.

DRAGON #235 17

Lower planar regeneration (10):While on any of the lower planes, the PCregenerates 1 hp/round.

Poison save bonus (5): The PC gains+2 to all saves vs. poison.

Reason bonus (10): The PC raisesIntelligence/Reason sub-ability by +1.

Styx resistance (10): The PC, likemany denizens of the lower planes, isimmune to the memory-sapping watersof the River Styx.

Tanar’ric bloodline (15): The PC isimmune to all forms of electricity.

Tanar’ric powers - minor (10): Once aday, the tiefling can employ heat metal,scare, or suggestion. At 7th level, tieflingcan enact all these abilities once a day.

Tanar’ric powers - major (15): Once aweek, the tiefling can employ telekinesis,true seeing, or vampiric touch. At 9th level,the tiefling can enact all these abilitiesonce a week.

Telepathy (5): At will within a 20’radius, the PC can communicate tele-pathically with any fiend or being pos-sessing the tiefling’s alignment.

Teleport without error (15): At 7thlevel, the PC can teleport without erroronce a day. This ability take one full turnto activate and is ruined for that day ifthe tiefling is disrupted in any way.

Undetectable lie (5): Once a day, thePC can speak an undetectable lie (reverseof detect lie).

Yugoloth bloodline (15): A bizarrecross breeding between one of thetiefling’s human progenitors and ayugoloth resulted in the PC beingimmune to acid.

Yugoloth powers - minor (10): Oncea day, the tiefling can employ alter self,charm person, or spectral force. At 7thlevel, the PC can enact all these abilitiesonce a day.

Yugoloth powers - major (15): Oncea week, the PC can polymorph self, warpwood, or wind walk. At 9th level, the PCcan enact all these abilities once a week.

Racial weakness options: Sometieflings inherit weaknesses from theirLower Planar ancestors. Tiefling PCsmay select from the following racialweaknesses to earn bonus points.

Fiendish weakness (5): The PC suffersdouble damage from cold attacks.

Holy water vulnerability (5):Tiefling’s fiendish ancestry makes himespecially vulnerable to holy water. Adirect hit causes 2d4 hp damage, whilea splash does 1d4.

Silver vulnerability (5): The PC suffersdouble damage from all silver weapons.

Upper planar disorientation (5): Thetieflings fiendish nature is at odds withthe pure goodness found in the UpperPlanes. On the Upper Planes of Good,tiefling is sickened and weakened suf-fering a -4 to THAC0 and AC as well asa -4 to all surprise checks.

Standard PC racesPlayers creating planar PCs with one

of the standard character races canselect any option for their particular racefrom both the S&P handbook and fromthe list of planar options below. Thenumber of CPs for each race remainsunchanged from S&P.

Additional dwarven abilitiesEnlarge/reduce (5): The PC can

enlarge or reduce himself as the wizardspell once a day.

Lower resistance (10): The non-magi-cal nature of planar dwarves can be har-nessed to adversely affect other beings.At 5th level, the PC can cause one beingto be affected by lower resistance oncea day.

Magic resistance (10): PC has 10%magic resistance.

Pebble to boulder (5): At 5th level,the dwarf may cast pebble to boulderonce a day.

Planar sense (5): Being creatures ofthe earth, dwarves are naturally attunedto the lands they travel upon. At will, thePC can determine which outer plane heis on as well as how many layersbeneath the first layer of the plane he is.The PC does not gain any other knowl-edge of the plane (i.e. planar ruler, localinhabitants, etc.).

Rockform (10): Once a day, the PC canassume the form of a large rock or smallboulder the same size as the dwarf. Thedwarf may remain in rock form for 1hour per level of the PC. When the PCreverts back to his normal dwarf form, heis healed of 2d8+6 hp damage. While inrock form, the dwarf is virtually immuneto standard weapon attacks but may beharmed by other means such as miningequipment, being thrown by a giant.Stone-affecting spells cast on a dwarf inrockform affect the dwarf in the samemanner such spells affect a being underthe effects of a meld into stone spell.

Additional elven racial abilitiesAnimal/plant form (10): Closer to

nature than perhaps any other PC race,the elf has developed the ability to castpolymorph self (natural animals only) ortree once a day.

Detect undead (5): As champions oflife, most elves despise undead as anunnatural abomination and seek todestroy them where possible. The PCcan detect undead as per the spell once aday for every three levels possessed.

Invoke wild surge (5): Elves, being amagical and mostly chaotic race, cancombine these two traits to cause spec-tacular results. Once a day for every fivelevels, the PC can cause a wild surge tohappen to a spellcaster in the process ofcasting a spell within 20’. This powercannot affect innate abilities.

Magic resistance (10): The PC pos-sesses 10% magic resistance. Thisoption may not be taken with the elvenresistance to charm spells option.

Power of life (20): The PC is immuneto death magic and level draining spellsand attacks such as those from undead.The PC is not immune, however, toaging effects such as an attack from aghost or a haste spell.

Withdraw (5): The long-lived elfapproaches each situation with tact andcaution making the best possible use oftime. Once a day, the PC can cast with-draw.

Additional gnomish abilitiesEtherealness (10): From any prime

material world, inner plane, or demi-plane, the PC may enter the BorderEthereal of the Ethereal Plane at willtwice a day. Likewise, a gnome in theBorder Ethereal can enter any borderingplane twice a day.

Dreamweaver (10): Once a day, thePC can cast phantasmal force. At 3rdlevel, this power improves as thegnome’s understanding of illusionsbecomes greater allowing the PC to nowcast spectral force once a day. At 9thlevel, this ability becomes even moreenhanced allowing the gnome to castadvanced illusion, programmed illusion, ormirage arcane once a day.

Illusion resistance (5/20): The PCreceives 30% resistance to illusion/phantasm magic for 5 points. For 20points, the gnome is immune to all illu-sion/phantasm magic.

Magic resistance (20): Gnome startsoff with 20% magic resistance thatimproves by 5% for every level after3rd. This cannot be combined withIllusion Resistance.

Non-detection (15): The PC is perma-nently protected by non-detection.

Shadow wielder (15): At 5th level, thegnome can cast shadow magic or shadowmonsters once a day. At 9th level, this

18 NOVEMBER 1996

ability is enhanced via the gnome’sgreater understanding of illusory magicsand the PC can cast either demi-shadowmagic or demi-shadow monsters once a day.

Summon earth elemental (15): At 6thlevel, once a day, the PC can summon anearth elemental as the conjure earth ele-mental priest spell with no chance of thegnome losing control of the elemental.

Additional halfling abilitiesAlter self (5/10): Once a day, the PC

can alter self. For 10 points, the PC canpolymorph self once a day.

Alternate reality (15): The PC can castthe wild magic spell, alternate reality,once a day.

Chaos shaper (5): The PC receives thechaos shaping proficiency. All attempts toshape land in Limbo automatically suc-ceed, and the halfling can shape doublethe amount of land normally allowed.

Chaos shield (5): Some halflings havedeveloped an innate (some say vital)resistance to wild magic. Once a day forevery five levels, the PC can cast chaosshield to protect himself from all wildsurges regardless of where they originate.

Limbo friend (5): The PC is recog-nized as a native of Limbo and lookedupon as a fellow chaos supporter byother natives (i.e., slaadi, githzerai, etc.)receiving a +4 to all reaction modifiersshould those natives care at all to parleywith the halfling.

Magic resistance (10): The PC has10% magic resistance (option cannot becombined with wild resistance option).

Wall of fog (5/10): Once a day, the PCcan use his smoking pipe to create awall of fog. For 10 points, halfling stilluses his pipe to produce a wall of fog butupon reaching 8th level can producesolid fog once a day.

Wild resistance (5): The PC possesses30% magic resistance to wild magicspells, the effects of wild surges, andpriest spells from the sphere of chaos.

Additional half-elf abilitiesAncestor ability (5+): The PC can

select any one ability from either the elfor human list of options but must pay anadditional 5 points over the original costof the option. This option may be takenonly once.

Appeasement (5): The PC deeplyrespects and defers to both human andelven society, gaining a +4 modifier toall reactions with these two races.

Life protection bonus (5): The PCgains +1 to all saves vs. death magicand life-draining attacks.

Racial appearance (5): The PCappears for all-intents and purposes as amember of one of his parents race(either human or elf). The PC will neverbe mistaken for a half-elf or as a mem-ber of the other parents race.

Survivor (10): Not fully accepted byeither human or elven society, the soli-tary PC learned to rely mainly on himselfand has thus developed unusual sur-vival abilities. Once a day, the PC cancast know alignment, invisibility, or silence15’ radius. At 9th level, the half-elf cancast all these abilities once a day.

Urban sense (5): The PC is a toughurban survivor having had to hone hisskills to find out pertinent informationfast. The PC has a base 40% + 5%chance per level of knowing the answerto any general question concerning Sigilor any of the gate-towns (portals, locallaw, ruler, etc.). Of course, many burgshave secrets that no berk will ever getthe dark on.

Additional half-ogre abilitiesAlteration resistance (5): The PC is

30% resistant to magic from the schoolof alteration.

Club bonus (5): A half-ogre who isproficient with a club inflicts doubledamage on a successful attack thatexceed the to hit roll by more than 4.

Humans not so bad (5): The PC haslearned enough of his human parentscustoms to gain a general acceptancewith humans. PC gains a +4 reactionmodifier when dealing with humans.

Necromantic resistance (5): The PCreceives 30% resistance to necromanticmagic.

Ogres good, humans bad (10): The PChas honed his fighting skills againstthose particularly troublesome humans,elves, half-elves, aasimar, and tieflings.PC gains a +2 to hit and damage whenfighting any of these “annoying” races.

Super hit points (15): The robust PCreceives a bonus 2 hit points at everylevel advance.

Additional half-orc abilitiesBattle Rager of Acheron (10): Once a

week, the PC may choose to enter a bat-tle-rage whereby during a battle, PCfights to -15 hps or until all foes in sightare slain. After either condition is met,the half-orc is rendered unconscious butis also instantly healed to 1 hp if 0 hp orless. Once unconscious, the PC cannotbe revived by any means but eventuallywill awaken in 1d4 turns. Some sagesattribute this ability to a bizarre influ-

ence emanating from Acheron targetingthose of orcish descent.

Chaos foe (5): The PC gains +1 to allsaves from spells cast by chaotic beings,spells having chaos as an end resultsuch as confusion and chaos, or priestspells from the law sphere.

Eye of Gruumsh (10): At 2nd level,once a day, the PC can know alignment,detect lie, or detect magic. At 8th level, thePC can enact each ability once a day.

Gruumsh’s speedy blessing (10):Once a day in battle only, the PC canmove as if hasted for as many rounds aslevels possessed. The half-orc does notsuffer any aging from this power.

Law warrior (10): Once a day, thehalf-orc can cast one priest spell fromthe combat, war, or law spheres. The PCcan only cast a spell that is normallyavailable to a priest of the same level.For example, a 5th level half-orc fightercould cast one priest spell up to 3rd levelbut no higher. When he reached 7thlevel, the half-orc could then cast onespell up to 4th level.

Magic resistance (10): The PC receives10% magic resistance.

Revitalized slayer (5): The PC is invig-orated with every kill in battle. For everybeing slain by the half-orc, the PC ishealed of 2 hp of damage (but cannotexceed PC’s maximum total). This is areward from Acheron for the half-orc’sproven battle prowess.

Additional human abilitiesAstral walker (10): Once a day, the PC

and up to 1 companion per level canenter the astral plane from the first layerof any outer plane (excluding Sigil). Thisability takes one round to enact butworks only on the outer planes.

Detect fiend (5): Some stalwarthumans are always on guard againstthe seemingly ever-present fiends. Atwill, the PC can detect all fiends within30’ x 10’ path in front of him even if thefiend has assumed a different form. Thispower takes one round to scan a direc-tion and the PC cannot engage in anyother behavior.

Detect scrying (5): Some humans arevery sensitive to divination magicsdirected at them. Once a day, the PC candetect scrying.

Evocation resistance (5): The PC has30% resistance to invocation/evocationmagic.

Free actor (10): Once a day, thehuman can cast free action on himself.

Magic resistance (5/10): Humanreceives 2% magic resistance for every

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level possessed. For 10 points, the PCreceives a 3% magic resistance perlevel. This ability cannot be combinedwith evocation resistance.

Plane lover (5): The PC is enamored ofa handful of native races living on theouter planes. The PC gains a +4 modifierto all reactions when dealing with goodcelestials, evil fiends, or the neutral beings(modrons, slaadi and rilmani). The playerchooses one group only. Such infatua-tions sometimes lead to the births of aasi-mar, alu-fiends, cambions, and tieflings.

True seer (10): The human has beengifted with a precious enhanced vision.PC can cast true seeing (priest version)once a day.

4. Character classesEach class has a standardized pack-

age of abilities found in the PHB which isalso duplicated here for easy reference.Players may opt to take the standard listof skills or customize their PCs using theabilities listed here. More informationconcerning each class (such as allowableweapons and armor, level limits, andminimum requirements) may be foundin PHB or S&P.

ClassWarrior

FighterPaladinRanger

RogueBardThief

PriestClericDruid

WizardMageSpecialist

Points Allotted

156060

8080

125100

4030

All classesAll classes can select the following

ability:Weapon specialization: PC has the

ability to specialize in a single weaponbut the CP cost for acquiring the special-ization must be met in addition to pay-ing for this option. This cost variesdepending on the class chosen: Fighter5 CPs; Paladin, Ranger, or Bard 10 CPs;Thief, Cleric, Druid, or Mage 15 CPs;Specialist Wizard 20 CPs.

Warrior classOptional restrictions

All sub-classes of warrior can gainbonus points by accepting voluntaryrestrictions on normal warrior abilities.

Limited armor (5/10/15): The PC withthis restriction is limited in his selection ofarmor. If the PC is restricted to chainmailor lighter armor, this restriction gives 5CPs; if limited to studded leather or lighterarmor, PC gains 10 CPs; and if the PCrefuses to wear any armor at all, he gains15 CPs. All warriors may still use a shield.

Limited weapon selection (5): The PCis limited in his choice of weapons. Hecan gain proficiency with weapons inonly one of the following groups: meleeweapons (no missile weapons allowed);priest weapons; rogue weapons.

Limited magical item use (5+): ThePC refuses to use certain categories ofmagical items. For each category that isbarred to him, he gains 5 CPs. The cate-gories are: potions, oils, and scrolls;rods, staves, wands, and miscellaneousmagical items; weapons; and armor.

FighterStandard abilities: Attract followers,

weapon specialization.1d12 for hit points (10): The PC rolls

d12 for hit points.Attract followers (5/10): The PC at 9th

level gains followers as described in thePHB if he establishes a stronghold. The10-point option allows him to attract fol-lowers whenever he establishes astronghold, regardless of level. DMsshould adjust the racial make-up of fol-lowers to adequately reflect thePlanescape setting.

Blood warrior (10): The PC believesthat the true path to becoming the finestwarrior lies in pitting his skills againstthe eternally warring fiends especiallyfighting them where they war the most— in the Blood War. When fightingfiends anywhere, the PC becomes anawesome fighting machine as he revelsin his true element. Fighter gains a +2 tohit and damage against all fiends, andreceives a +2 bonus to AC.

Leadership (5): The PC is able to leadlarge number of troops in battle (up to

Building (5): The PC knows how toconstruct heavy war machines, siegeengines, and siege towers.

Defense bonus (10/15): The PC gains a+2 bonus to AC if unencumbered andunarmored: For 15 points, AC bonus is +3.

Improved THAC0 (10): The PC beginslife better suited to fight than most byhaving an improved THAC0. The PCstarts with a THAC0 of 18 at 1st level thatimproves by 1 for every level advance.

Increased movement (5): The PC isquicker than most and adds a +3 tomovement rate.

100 soldiers per level). The PC knowshow to use messengers and signals, isfamiliar with military terminology, andunderstands the mechanics of movinglarge numbers of troops.

Move silently (10): A PC with this abili-ty can move silently like thieves. Thechance of success is equal to PC’sDexterity score added to the PC’s level. Inorder to move silently, the PC cannotwear any armor greater than studdedleather. All other thief penalties also apply.

Multiple specialization (10): The PCwith this ability can specialize in asmany weapons as desired provided thatthe CP cost is met for each individualspecialization.

Planetouched (10): The PC’s body ischarged with a curious planar energythat temporarily renders non-magicalweapons the fighter wields into amagical weapon (so long as the fightermaintains physical contact with theweapon). For every 4 levels of the fight-er, the non-magical weapon gains amagical +1 bonus to hit and damage(i.e., +1 at 1st level, +2 at 5th, etc., to amaximum of +5).

Poison resistance (5): The PC gains+1 to all saves vs. poison.

Proficiency ease (5): By spending 5CPs now, the fighter can cut the cost ofall weapon proficiency costs in the future(including all forms of mastery) by 50%.

Spell resistance (5): The PC gains +1to all saves vs. spells.

Supervisor (5): The PC has theauthority to supervise the constructionof defensive works such as ditches, pits,fields of stakes, and hastily built woodenand stone barricades. Semi-permanentbuildings may also be constructed iftime permits.

War machines (5): The PC knowshow to operate heavy war machinesand siege engines such as ballistae, cat-apults, rams, bores, and siege towers.

PaladinStandard abilities: Circle of power,

curative, detect evil, faithful mount,healing, health, priest spells, protectionfrom evil, saving throw bonus.

All paladins have built-in restrictionsto the class, which cannot be changed,as listed in the PHB and S&P. If the DMallows, paladin spell restrictions listed inPLAYER’S OPTION: Spells & Magic rules maybe taken for extra CPs.

Circle of power (5): If the PC owns aholy sword, he can project a circle of

1d12 for hit points (10): The PC rollsd12 for hit points.

20 NOVEMBER 1996

power 10’ in diameter. This circle dispelshostile magic at a level equal to the pal-adin’s experience.

Curative (10): Once a week for everythree experience levels, the PC can curediseases of all types.

Detect evil (5): The PC can detect evilmonsters and beings up to 60’ awaysimply by concentrating for one round.The PC can perform this ability anunlimited number of times.

Dispel evil (10): At 7th level, the PCcan cast dispel evil once per day.

Faithful mount (5): The PC can sum-mon a steed at 4th level as per the PHB.

Fiend slayer (10): The PC is the swornenemy of all vile fiends and gains a +3to hit and +3 to damage against fiends.

Gift of the Archons (15): The PC hasbeen honored by the archons andrewarded with a wondrous gift. The PCgrows a large pair of feathered wingsfrom his back that allows flight (MV 18,MC B). Note that any armor the PC ownsmust be altered to accommodate thesecelestial wings.

Healing (5/10): Once a day, the PCcan heal him or another by laying on ofhands restoring 2 hit points per level.For 10 points, the paladin can heal 4 hitpoints per level once a day.

Health (5): The PC is immune to allforms of disease.

High wisdom bonus (5): If the PC hasthe Priest Spells option, he receivesbonus spells based on his high wisdomidentical to the way clerics do.

Holy assistance (10): Once a week,the PC can gate in 1 lantern archon perexperience level as long as the archonsare employed solely in the fight againstevil. The gated lanterns remain for 1turn plus 1 round per paladin’s level.This ability does not work in Sigil.

Holy defender (10): When on theplane of his power (usually Mt. Celestiabut not always), the PC becomes a nearinvincible defender. All magic resistanceand saving throw bonuses are doubledand the paladin’s AC is improved by 4.

Lawful order (5): The PC can dictate(as the 3rd-level priest spell in S&M) oncea day for every four levels.

Lower planar vanquisher (10): The PChas steeled himself for taking the goodfight where fiends live and breed. Thepaladin receives a +4 to all saves vs. anynaturally occurring phenomena on anyof the lower planes.

Poison resistance (10): The PC gains+2 to all saves vs. poison.

Priest spells (10): At 9th level, the PCcan cast priest spells as per the PHB.

Protection from evil (5): The PC isprotected from evil by a natural aura 10’in diameter which affects all evil crea-tures in the aura (-1 penalty to THAC0).

Resist fiendish magics (10): Paladingains a 2/%/level magic resistanceagainst any spells employed by fiends.This resistance can be added to anyother magic resistance the paladin pos-sesses.

Resist charm (10/15): +2 bonus tosaves vs. charm-like spells and effects.For 15 points, the paladin’s saving throwbonus vs. charm magic is +4 if thecharm is cast by any evil being from thelower planes.

Saving throw bonus (10): +2 bonus toall saving throws.

Turn undead (10): At 3rd level, thepaladin can turn undead as a cleric twolevels below his own level.

RangerStandard ranger abilities: Attract fol-

lowers, empathy with animals, hide inshadow, move silently, priest spells, spe-cial enemy, tracking, two-weapon style.

If the DM allows, ranger spell restric-tions listed in the PLAYER’S OPTION: Spells &Magic rules may be taken for extra CPs.

1d12 for hit points (10): PC rolls d12for hit points.

Animal master (15): At 5th level, thePC has learned how to control the nat-ural fauna around him. Once a week,the ranger may cast animal growth, anti-animal shell, conjure animals, or hold ani-mal. At 9th level, the ranger can enacteach of these abilities once a week.

Attract followers (10): At 10th level,the PC attracts followers as per PHB orS&P (the list of followers should be mod-ified to include planar beings).

Bow bonus (5): +1 attack bonus withany bow.

Climbing (10): Ranger can climb trees,cliffs, and other natural formations(except the Spire). Climbing score isequal to ranger’s Dexterity/Balancescore plus the hide in shadows percent-age for a ranger of his level (see table inPHB or S&P).

Detect noise (10): Similar to the thiefability but the ranger uses hisWisdom/Intuition score plus the hide inshadows percentage to determine hischance of success.

Empathy with animals (10): Rangercan approach and befriend an animal asdescribed in the PHB or S&P.

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Find and remove wilderness traps(10): Ability functions similar to the thiefability but ranger’s chance of success isequal to move silently percentage.

High wisdom bonus (5): If the rangerhas the Priest Spells option, the rangerreceives bonus spells based on his highwisdom identical to the way clerics do.

Hide in shadows (5): Wearing stud-ded leather or lighter armor, ranger canhide in shadows as per PHB or S&P.

Move silently (5): Wearing studdedleather or lighter armor, ranger canmove silently as per PHB or S&P.

Pass without trace (10): Ranger canpass without trace as the druid ability.

Planar defender (10): Ranger gains a+2 bonus to hit, to damage, and initia-tive as well as a +1 bonus to AC whenfighting on his home plane against non-natives of the plane.

Planar attunement (5): Ranger canattune herself to the plane he is on andbecome vividly aware of naturally occur-ring phenomena of the plane such asthe will-sapping entropy of the GrayWaste. This ability takes one completeturn of uninterrupted concentration perphenomena to be discerned.

Plant master (15): At 3rd level, theranger has learned how to effectivelymanipulate surrounding flora and may,once a week, cast anti-plant shell, holdplant, plant growth, or wall of thorns. At8th level, the ranger can enact each abil-ity once a week.

Polymorph self (5/10): At 5th level,ranger can polymorph self once a dayinto any natural animal native to hisplane of origin. For 10 points, ranger canpolymorph into any creature he desireswithin the spell’s limitations.

Priest spells (10): At 8th level, rangercan cast priest spells precisely asdescribed in the PHB or S&P.

Savage ranger (10): The union of pla-nar energies and the ranger’s relation-ship with nature have combined tomaker him a savage fighter. Once a day,the ranger can cast Tenser’s transforma-tion on himself with the following differ-ences: ranger uses his own THAC0 andmay fight with any weapon which hechooses (proficiency rules still apply).

Sneak attack (10): A ranger who suc-cessfully, hides in shadows and movessilently can backstab an opponent asthe thief ability. A backstab is +4 to hitand causes damage as per a thief of thesame level.

Speak with animals (5/10): Once aday, the PC can speak with animals asthe spell. For lo-points, the ranger can

employ this ability once a day for everythree experience levels possessed.

Special enemy (10): The PC gains a+4 to THAC0 and -4 to reaction modi-fiers when dealing with his specialenemy. This ability is fully described inthe PHB and S&P, but the ranger maynow select planar beings as enemiesincluding fiends.

Tracking ability (5): The PC receivestracking proficiency which automaticallyimproves by +1 for every three levels.

Two-weapon style (5): The PC canfight with two weapons and suffer nopenalties as per the PHB or S&P.

Rogue classStandard rogue thieving skills

Both types of rogue have access toany standard rogue thieving skill listedbelow provided that each skill is paid forwith CPs. The base values of each rogueskill are detailed in S&P. Racial modifiersfor the standard races are also detailedin S&P. Racial modifiers for the uniquelyplanar races are found under their spe-cific entry in the appropriate PLANESCAPE

source. Modifiers based on Dexterityand the specific type of armor worn arefound in S&P. These skills can beimproved upon as a rogue advances inlevel but these improvements varyaccording to the type of rogue. Bardsbegin with 20 discretionary points todistribute among their base thieving skillvalues at 1st level. At every level there-after, the bard receives 15 points to dis-tribute among these skills. At 1st level,thieves begin with 60 discretionarypoints that can be spent on these skills.At every level thereafter, the thief gains30 more points to spend on thievingskills. Complete descriptions of theseskills are found in S&P: Bribe (5), climbwalls (5), detect illusion (10), detectmagic (10), detect noise (5), escapebonds (10), find/remove traps (10), hidein shadows (5), move silently (5), openlocks (10), pick pockets (10), read lan-guages (5), tunneling (10).

ThiefStandard abilities: Attract followers,

backstab, climb walls, detect noise,find/remove traps, hide in shadows,move silently, open locks, pick pockets,read language, scroll use, thieves cant.

Attract followers (5/10): The 5-pointoption allows the PC to attract followersat 9th level as per the PHB. For 10 points,thief can attract followers whenever heestablishes a stronghold, regardless oflevel.

Audible glamer (5): A thief oftenneeds to cause a diversion when he hasto slip past some annoying hardheadsor other law-enforcing berks. The PC cancast an audible glamer once a day.

Backstab (10): The PC can attack anopponent with a vicious backstab asdetailed in the S&P.

Backstab bonus (5): A thief who haschosen backstab now attacks with a +6to all backstab attacks.

Comprehend languages (5): Theplanes house a tremendous number ofraces and a knight of the cross-trade hasto be able to speak their languages toget what he wants from them (usually aprofitable peel). Once a day, the PC cancast tongues.

Dimension door (10): Berks about toget nabbed by the law usually wishthey’d have planned some form ofescape. Some planar thieves, usuallySigilian, have learned a sure-fire way toescape. Once a week, the PC canemploy a dimension door. At 9th level,the PC can enact this ability once a day.

Defensive bonus (10/15): An unar-mored and unencumbered thief gains a+2 to his armor class. For 15 points, thethief receives a +3 bonus to AC.

Know faction (5): In Sigil and else-where, lots of cutters try to hide whothey are and who they serve. This thiefhas made it his business to know whohe is dealing with before he deals withthem. The thief can know faction once aday as the Indep spell in the Factol’sManifesto.

Magic thief (10): At 7th level, the thiefcan steal enchantment once a day.

Portal lock (5): If on the run, somethieves need to keep annoying berkslike Harmonium from following themthrough portals. Once a day, the thiefcan attempt temporarily to shut down aportal by casting surelock (PLANESCAPE

campaign setting).Sense portal (10): Always looking for

a possible means to escape should theneed arise, the thief can cast warp sense(PLANESCAPE campaign setting) once aday.

Shadow thief (10): At 7th level, thiefcan cast Lorloveim’s shadowy transforma-tion on himself twice a day.

Silence (5): Once a day, the thief canrender himself silent as the 2nd-levelpriest spell silence 15’ radius, except onlythe thief is affected.

Scroll use (5/10): At 10th level, thethief can use magical spell scrolls as perS&P. For 10-points, the thief can readscrolls at any level.

22 NOVEMBER 1996

Thieves’ cant (5): Thief uses slangterms when referring to illegal activitiesthus letting them converse about suchdealings in the open without othersknowing what is being talked about.

BardStandard bard abilities: Alter moods,

attract followers, climb walls, countereffects, detect noise, history, magicalitem use, pick pockets, rally friends, readlanguages, wizard spells.

If the DM allows, bard spell restric-tions and options listed in PLAYER‘S OPTION:Spells & Magic may be selected.

Attract followers (5/10): The 5-pointoption allows the PC to attract followersat 9th level as per the PHB. For 10 points,PC can attract followers whenever thePC establishes a stronghold, regardlessof the PC’s level.

Alter moods (5): The PC can influencereactions as described in the PHB.

Animal friendship (10): Once a day,the bard can cast the equivalent of ananimal friendship spell by singing a song.

Charm person (10): Once a day, thePC can cast a charm person by singingthe spell. At 9th level, the PC can castcharm monster instead of charm persononce a day.

Charm resistance (10): The PC gains+2 to all saves vs. charm/enchantmentspells and effects.

Counter effects (10): The PC cancounter the effects of songs and magicused as magical attacks (including spellscast by song mages) by performing acounter song as described in S&P.

History (10): Bard knows a “little bit ofeverything as found in the PHB.

Instrumental spell casting (10): ThePC has learned how to enhance hisspells by casting them through a musicalinstrument with which he is proficient.(CPs must be spent for this proficiencyalso). All spells cast through the instru-ment are treated as if two levels higherwith regard to effect, range, etc., andneed no material components. Castingspells in this manner increases castingtime by 1 per level of the spell.

Magical item use (10): Bard can usemagic items usable only by wizards butwith a chance of failure as per the PHB.

Priestly magic (5): The bard gainsminor access to one sphere of priestlymagic. The wizard spells option mustalso be taken. Additional spheres maybe purchased as many times as desired.

Rally friends (5): Music, stories andpoetry performed by the bard can beinspirational as in the PHB.

Song of combat (10): Once a day, thebard can play a song of combat whichhas the same effect as unearthly choiras if he were a trio of priests. At 6thlevel, the bard can sing as per the quar-tet; at 9th level, the bard functions as ifa quintet; at 12th level, the bard sings asan ensemble of six priests; and at 16thlevel, the bard sings as if he were anentire choir of eleven priests.

Song of discordance (10): Once a day,a non-lawful bard can play a song of dis-cordance on his instrument which hasthe same effect as chaotic combatexcept that all warriors within 10’ of thebard are affected.

Song of harmony (10): Once a day, anon-chaotic bard can play a song of har-mony on his instrument which has thesame effect as defensive harmony.

Sound resistance (5): +2 bonus tosaves vs. sound-based magical assaults.

Spell bonus (10): Bard gains an extraspell per spell level if the wizard spellsoption is taken.

Wizard spells (10): The bard can castspells at 2nd level as per the PHB and S&P.

Priest classAll priest spheres and their costs are

detailed in S&P. If the DM allows, priestrestrictions and options listed in S&P.may be also selected to further cus-tomize priest PCs.

Optional restrictionsBoth clerics and druids can gain

bonus points to spend on abilitiesappropriate to their sub-class by accept-ing the following voluntary restrictionson normal priest abilities.

Armor restriction (5+): The PC is lim-ited in choice of armor. For 5 CPs, thepriest is restricted to chain mail or lighterarmor; for 10 points, the priest is limitedto studded leather or lighter armor; andfor 15 points, the priest may not weararmor at all.

Limited magical item Use (5+): Anypriest with this penalty refuses to usecertain categories of magical items. Thepriest gains 5 CPs for every categoryselected: potions, oils, and scrolls; rings,rods, staves, wands, and miscellaneousitems; weapons and armor.

Reduced hit points (10/20): The PCwith the 10-point limitation uses d6 forhit points. For 20 points, the PC uses d4for hit points.

ClericStandard abilities: Sphere access

(Major - All, Astral, Charm, Combat,

Creation, Divination, Elemental,Guardian, Healing, Necromantic, Protec-tion, Summoning, Sun, Weather), turnundead.

Access to spheres: Clerics can pur-chase major or minor access to thepriest spheres of magic. All clerics aregenerally limited to only those spheresof their powers portfolio.

Anchor of stability (5): The very landof the planes, being mutable, can slideinto another plane when dominated bythe overwhelming influence of the align-ment of those present. The PC’s strongdevotion to his power acts as an anchorfor that ground and thus prevents itsmovement. No planar land slips within10’ of the cleric unless that land is shift-ing to the plane of the cleric’s power. (Inthis case, the land slips normally).

Casting reduction (5): Clerics castingtime is reduced by 1 (to a minimum of 1)

Detect good/evil (10): Non-evil clericswith this ability can see emanations ofevil (non-good clerics detect good) fromcreatures and objects within a path 10’wide by 60’ long. This power takes oneround to scan a direction and the clericcannot engage in any other behavior.

Detect undead (10): Clerics with thisability can detect undead within a path10’ wide by 60’ long as long as theundead are not hidden behind stone orother dense material. This power takesone round to scan a direction and thecleric cannot engage in any otherbehavior.

Expert healer (5/10): The PC can casta bonus cure light wounds spell once perday. With the 10-point option, the clericcan cast a bonus cure light woundsonce a day for every three levels ofexperience.

Faithful fanatic (10): All spells cast bycleric function as if the PC were onelevel higher as a reward of his devotionto his power.

Followers (5/10): The 5-point optionallows the cleric to attract followers at9th level as per the PHB. For 10 points,he can attract followers whenever thecleric establishes a stronghold, regard-less of the his level.

Hit point bonus (10/15): The PC rollsd10 for hit points. For 15 points, the PCrolls d12.

Know alignment (10): Once a day,the cleric can cast know alignment.

Nearer my power to thee (10): Anextremely strong link between the clericand his power exists lessening by onethe levels a cleric will drop when not onthe plane of his power.

DRAGON #235 23

Path of the proxy (5): Once a day, thecleric can call upon faith or draw uponholy might.

Plane truth (15): The cleric is grantedthe purest vision from his deity. Priestcan cast true seeing (priest version) oncea week. At 7th level, the priest can usethis ability once per day.

Resist energy drain (5): The PC gains+1 to all saves vs. the energy drain spelland level-draining attacks of undead.This ability has no effect where no saveis allowed or when used in conjunctionwith the negative energy protectionspell.

Resist temptation (10): The cleric’szeal and devotion to his power lessensthe chance that others can sway or influ-ence the PC. PC gains a +2 to all saveswhich might influence the PC’s mindsuch as charm/enchantment spells andpsionics.

Spell duration increase (10): Theduration of all non-instantaneous spellscast by the PC increases by 1 round forevery 2 of the cleric’s experience levels.

Sphere bonus (6+): The cleric canpurchase either major or minor accessto one sphere of priest spells that nor-mally lies outside his powers portfolio.The cost is twice the standard cost listed.

Sphere focus (10): Any spells in onesphere of the clerics choice are cast as ifthe PC were two levels higher. This maybe combined with the Faithful Fanaticoption.

Turn undead (10): Cleric is grantedpowers over undead as per PHB or S&P.

Warrior-priests (10): Clerics with thisoption use the warrior Strength andConstitution bonuses for exceptionalscores.

Weapon allowance (5): A cleric withthis option can use a favored, edgedweapon of his deity. PC must also payfor proficiency for the weapon.

Wizardly priests (15): Cleric gainsaccess to one school of wizard spellsand can cast them as if they were cleri-cal spells. This includes the more stylizedwizard schools such as elemental magicor even wild magic.

Wondrous healer (15): All curewounds cast by the cleric heal to theirmaximum potential.

DruidStandard abilities: Communicate,

fire/electrical resistance, identify, immu-nity to charm, pass without trace,shapechange, sphere access (Major -All, Animal, Elemental, Healing, Plant,Weather; Minor - Divination)

Access to spheres: The standarddruid selection of spells costs 60 CPs orthe druid can purchase access to thespheres just like clerics do.

Alignment change (10): Once a day,the druid can temporarily neutralize onebeing by changing its alignment to theleast extreme alignment - true neutral.On a failed save vs. spells, the being soaffected has its alignment changed to trueneutral for the next 2d6 hours and actsaccordingly. This change can severelycomplicate the lives of ‘extremists’ such aspaladins and fiends, which is preciselywhat the druid wishes to accomplish.

Alter beasts (10): Once a day at 7thlevel, the druid can polymorph otheranother being into a woodland creature.

Analyze balance (5): The druid cananalyze balance at will.

Animal friendship (5): Once a day,the druid can cast animal friendship.

Cold resistance (5): +2 to all saves vs.cold or ice-based attacks.

Communicate (10): The druid canlearn one language per level of onegroup of creatures from a related groupof racial tongues. A druid could learn thelanguages of woodland and sylvanraces or the languages of the neutralplanar beings such as rilmani, modrons,eladrin, slaadi and yugoloth.

Elemental sphere bonus (5/20):Elemental spells cast by the druid aretreated as if the PC were one level high-er. For 20 points, the druid’s own bodyalso serves as an all-purpose elementalpower key enabling all elemental spellscast by the druid to reach their fullestpotential anywhere in the planes.

Fire/electrical resistance (5): The PCgains +2 to all saves vs. fire and electri-cal attacks.

Hide in shadows (5): Druid can hidein shadows as per the ranger ability withthe same chance of success as a ranger(see ranger).

Hit point bonus (10/15): Druid rollsd10 for hit points. For 15 points, thedruid rolls d12 for hit points.

Identify (5/10): At 3rd level, the druidcan accurately identify plants, animals,and clean water from his native plane.The 10-point option allows the druid toaccurately identify plants, animals andclean water from other planes butbecause of the druid’s unfamiliarity withflora and fauna from other planes, hemay fail at an identification attempt.Chance of success equals 40% +5%/level.

Immunity to charm (5/10): At 7thlevel, druid is immune to charm spells

cast by woodland creatures from hisown plane and the plane of his deity asper the PHB. The 10-point option gives adruid this immunity at 1st level.

Immunity to disease (10): With thisoption, the druid is immune to all naturaldiseases.

Keeper of the balance (10): Whenfighting against creatures of extremealignments (LG, CG, LE, & CE), the druidgains a +2 bonus to hit, damage, andinitiative as well as receiving a +2 to allsaves from spell attacks by those beings.

Move silently (5): Druid can movesilently as per the ranger ability with thesame chance of success as a ranger (seeranger).

Outlandish defender (10): On theOutlands, the druid becomes an awe-some defender receiving a +4 bonus toarmor class and doubling all magic resis-tance and saving throw bonuses.

Pass without trace (5): At 3rd level, adruid moving at his normal movementrate can pass without trace at will as perthe spell.

Planar native (10): This powerfuloption allows a PC to attune his body toany outer plane he is on, providing himwith special benefits. The PC’s neutralalignment is masked and for purposesof divination appears to be the align-ment of the plane he is on. The PC alsodoes not drop in level if his power is onanother plane. The PC gains a +1 to allsaves vs. natural phenomena of theplane he is on.

Portal affinity (5): Druid can castwarp sense (campaign setting boxed set)once a day.

Purify water (5): Druid can cast purifyfood and drink once a day.

Secret language (5): Druid knows asecret language that only druids and ril-mani know.

Sense plane slippage (5): While onany of the Outer Planes, the druidbecomes instantly aware of any large-scale plane slippage from one plane toanother as it occurs (large-scale beingabout he size of a gate-town). The druidlearns where the slipping begins andwhere the land is headed. Additionally,the druid instantly becomes aware ofwhen he steps on any land that hasslipped if the slippage occurred withinthe past 100 years (druid also learnswhere the slipped land originated).

Shapechange (10/15): At 7th level,druid can shapechange into a natural ani-mal as described in PHB or S&P. For 15points, the druid can shapechange start-ing at 5th level.

24 NOVEMBER 1996

Spire sense (5): On the Outlands, thedruid is instantly aware of when hecrosses any of the nine rings surround-ing the spire that restrict magic use.

Wizard classBoth mages and specialist wizards

have similar characteristics attributableto both sub-classes. The below listedoptions are available to all wizards inaddition to other options particular toeach sub-class. If your DM approves,additional options for wizards found inS&M may also be purchased.

Wizard optionsArmored wizard (5/10/15): As a 5-

point ability, the wizard may wearpadded armor. For 10 points, the wizardmay wear leather, studded leather, hide,or brigantine armor. For 15 points, thewizard may wear any armor desired.Wizards are not allowed to use shields.

Automatic spells (5): When a wizardwith this option gains access to a newlevel of spells, the wizard automaticallyacquires a spell for that level. Specialistwizards may only select spells belongingto their chosen school.

Bonus spells (10): Wizard may memo-rize 1 additional spell per spell level.Bonus spells memorized by specialistsmust belong to the wizard’s specialtyschool.

Casting reduction (5): Wizard’s cast-ing times are reduced by 1 (to a mini-mum of 1).

Combat bonus (10): Wizard fightswith a priests THAC0.

Detect magic (10): This ability allowsthe wizard to detect magic once a dayfor every two levels of the wizard.

Dispel magic (10): Wizard can cast dis-pel magic once a day for every five levelspossessed.

Extend duration (10): The duration ofall non-instantaneous spells increasesby 1 round for every 2 experience levelsof the generalist mage. If taken by a spe-cialist, this option extends a non-instan-taneous spell’s duration by 1round/level but the spell must belong tothe wizard’s specialty school.

Greater hit die (10/15/20): For 10points, the wizard rolls d6 for hit points.For 15 points, the wizard rolls d8 for hitpoints. With the 20-point option, thewizard rolls d10 for hit points.

Immunity (10+): A wizard with thispower gains complete immunity to oneparticular spell, at a cost of 10 CPs plus 1CP per spell level. The wizard ignores theeffects of the spell and cannot be directly

damaged or harmed by the spell. Thewizard may gain immunity to a group ofrelated spells by spending CPs to becomeimmune to the highest level spell in thatgroup, so a wizard who wanted tobecome immune to all charms (charm per-son, charm monster etc.) would spend 18CPs for immunity to mass charm.

Range boost (5): The reach of allranged spells (other than 0, self, ortouch) from one school selected by thewizard is increased by 25%. Specialtywizards must apply this option to theirchosen school.

Read magic (5): Wizard can readmagic once a day for every two levelspossessed.

Optional restrictionsBoth mages and specialists may

select from the following limitations togain CPs to spend on other abilities.With their DMs approval, players mayopt to select other wizard limitations inS&P.

Learning penalty (5+): Wizard suffersa -15% penalty when trying to learnspells in all schools of magic except oneschool which the wizard exempts fromthis penalty. Specialists must exempttheir chosen school.

Limited magical item use (5+): ThePC with this penalty refuses to use cer-tain categories of magical items. Thewizard gains 5 CPs for every categoryselected: potions, oils, and scrolls; rings,rods, staves, wands, and miscellaneousitems; all weapons and armor.

More opposition schools (5+): The PCwith this restriction may choose to takeadditional opposing schools, gaining 5points for each school in opposition to hisspecialty. Only standard specialty schoolsas described in the PHB can be selectedas additional oppositional schools. (Thisoption is not available to mages).

Reduced hit points (10): Wizard usesd3 for hit points rather than d4.

Weapon restriction (3/5): For 3points, the wizard may never have aweapon proficiency. For 5 points, thewizard can never wield a weapon evento save his life. This last restriction is notlimited to weapons wholly created bythe wizard’s spells such as ice knife.

MageStandard abilities: Access to all

schools.Access to all schools: It costs 40

points for a mage to have access to alleight standard schools of magic.

DRAGON #235 25

Planar proficiency summary

ProficiencyGeneralChaos ShapingPlanar Direction SensePlanar SensePlanar SurvivalPlane KnowledgePortal Feel

Wizard/PriestPlanologySpell Recovery

cost Initial Rating Ability Reference

4 8 Wisdom/Intuition PWH3 7 Wisdom/Intuition PWH3 6 Wisdom/Intuition PWH44

5 Intelligence/Knowledge PWH5 Intelligence/Knowledge FM

5 3/1 Intelligence/Reason PWH

4 7 Intelligence/Reason PWH5 3 Intelligence/Knowledge PWH

are more effective against creatures of aEthos focus (10): The mage’s spells

specific ethos, who suffer a -2 to savingthrows vs. the mage’s spells. Only crea-tures whose alignment falls into one ofthe following groups are affected: law-ful, chaotic, or neutral good/evil.

Spell option was taken, the specialistnow receives a second bonus spell per

Extra bonus spell (10): If the Bonus

spell level provided that the spellbelongs to his chosen school.

Focused magic (10): Most beings inthe planes have some form of magicresistance which makes it difficult forwizards to use offensive spells. The wiz-ard has enhanced his spellcasting toattempt to overcome that magic resis-tance. Once a day, any being targetedby a spell cast from the specialist’s cho-sen school is first treated as if affectedby lower resistance for that spell only.

Planar safeguard (10): The mage hasdeveloped a magical resistance (2%/level) against spells cast by all beingsoriginating from one plane of existenceas chosen by the player. This resistancecan be added to any magic resistancethe PC already possesses.

Planar sympathy (10): The wizard isattuned to those outer planes with thesame ethos as his own (either law,chaos, or non-lawful/non-chaotic neu-trality). All spells cast by the wizard aretreated as if two levels higher when caston an outer plane of the same ethos.

Priestly wizard (10/15): For 10 points,mage gains minor access to one sphereof priest spells and can cast them as ifthey were wizard spells. For 15 points,the mage gains major access to thatsphere.

Resistance to sleep and charm (5): +1bonus to all saving throws vs. sleep andcharm.

Stay enchantment (5): Weaponsused by the mage do not suffer a magi-cal plus loss when brought to otherplanes as the wizard is able to sustainthe weapon’s magical enchantment. Aweapon not in the wizard’s grasp isunaffected.

Warrior wizard (10): The mage enjoysthe benefits of a high constitution scorethe same as warriors.

Specialist wizardStandard abilities: Specialty school

and accompanying schools (no pointcost), automatic spells, bonus spells,intense magic, learning bonus, researchbonus, saving throw bonus.

Specialized wizards as listed in thePHB have the following penalty (which isnot mandatory) when selecting optionsand limitations: learning penalty.

Intense magic (5): If a specialist wiz-ard casts a spell from his chosen school,the targets of that spell suffer a -1 savingthrow penalty. This option may be pur-chased several times with a cumulativeeffect.

Learning bonus (5): +15% bonuswhen attempting to learn new spellsbelonging to the wizard’s specialtyschool.

Magic resistance (10): Specialist gains10% magic resistance against magicfrom his specialty school which may beadded to any other magic resistance.

No components (10): The ability todesignate one specialty-school spell percharacter level as a spell that does notrequire material components.

Planar strength (10): On his home-plane, spells of his chosen school cast bythe specialist have their effects doubled.

Research bonus (5): When attempt-ing to research and create a new spellbelonging to his specialized school, thespell is treated as one level lower thanits actual level.

Saving throw bonus (5): +1 bonus onsaving throws vs. spells cast at wizardfrom school of specialization. Thisoption may be purchased several timeswith a cumulative effect.

Specialty bonus (10): All spells in thewizard’s chosen school cast by the spe-cialist are treated as if the wizard weretwo levels higher for purposes of dam-age, duration, etc.

Specialty sense (5): The specialist isvery much in tune with his specialtyschool and instinctively knows how thephysical conditions on any plane willaffect spells from his chosen school. Thisknowledge comes to a wizard within1d3 turns upon arrival on a plane.

5. Character kitsTheoretically, any kit currently exist-

ing in any campaign setting may betaken by a PLANESCAPE PC. Players shouldkeep in mind that some PC kits havebeen specifically designed for play sole-ly on a specific campaign world (such asthe Athasian advanced being or theMystaran inheritor). It is understandabletherefore that their presence on theplanes might be difficult to justify.Players should seek their DMs approvalbefore using any kits. The PWH listsseven new kits exclusively designed forthe Planescape campaign: PlanewalkerWarrior, Planewalker Wizard, Plane-walker Priest, Planewalker Rogue,Abyssal Warrior, Floating Sorcerer, andHinterland Bandit.

6. Nonweapon proficienciesAt this stage of PC development,

players spend points on nonweaponproficiencies and traits. Standard non-weapon proficiencies by point cost arelisted in S&P and S&M. PLANESCAPE war-riors, rogues, priests and wizards receivethe same number of CPs as the standardAD&D classes given in S&P.

Eight uniquely PLANESCAPE non-weapon proficiencies have been pub-lished to date. Their CP cost, initial rat-ing, and reference source appear in thetable above.

7. Weapon proficiencyand mastery

All classes must consult chapter 7 ofS&P for more information on acquiringweapon proficiencies and other weaponskills. Planar warriors, rogues, priests,and wizards follow the same weaponsrules as their Prime world counterparts.

8. Magic and newschools of magic

W izards spending a s igni f icantamount of time in the planes soon dis-cover that nearly every spell and schoolof magic in existence can be found inthe planes. New spells for wizards andpriests can be found in nearly everyPLANESCAPE reference released so far.

Some forms of magic found on spe-cific prime worlds simply do not or can-

26 NOVEMBER 1996

not exist in the planes. Spellcasting PCsfrom the BIRTHRIGHT® campaign will notbe able to cast any realm spells on theplanes (or on any other prime materialworld for that matter) as they are effec-tively cut off from their domains and leylines. There is no magic in existence thatwill connect a PC with his ley lines oncethey are separated by the planes. Thereis also no way to create ley lines in theplanes. Blooded PCs, however, mayenact any of their innate abilities with-out difficulty wherever they are (unlessprohibited by the plane’s magical prop-erties). Similarly, afflicted PCs from theRED STEEL® campaign can use theircursed abilities as they wish, however,individuals affected by the Red Cursewill soon suffer the excruciating loss oftheir legacies if they stay away from thecrimson lands of the Savage Coast fortoo long. DMs have the final say onwhether magic and spells unique tosome prime campaign settings will beallowed in their Planescape campaign.

9. PsionicsTwo sets of optional rules exist that

cover the creation of psionicists using theSW method. One is found in the “SageAdvice” column in DRAGON Magazine #231while the second is in the DARK SUNPlayer’s Option article in the DRAGONMagazine Annual #1. The options fromthese two articles are not compatible andthus cannot be “mixed and matched.”Psionicist proficiencies described in S&Phave been assigned CP values in theDARK SUN Player's Option article.

For specifics on importing spells andmagic to PLANESCAPE that are unique to aparticular prime world (such as aBIRTHRIGHT PC’s blooded abilities), consultthe guidelines provided in the PWH. DMshave the final say on whether suchmagic will be allowed in their PLANESCAPE

campaign.

Ed Bonny reports that game dungeonstook on a whole new meaning when hebegan to patrol the subterranean maze ofstations and dark tunnels called the NYCsubway system. He writes, "I was very muchattracted to the PLANESCAPE setting, not onlyfor letting players adventure on the planesbut also for the cosmopolitan attitude andposeur scene that so mirrors the NYCnightlife.”

28 NOVEMBER 1996

by Ted Zuvichby David Kooharian

n the third day, the storm broke, its rage spent. The sun peeked out from behind dark clouds, and Captain T’Do of

Description and backgroundIn a seagoing campaign, the PCs usually own (or operate)

the Alca Torda pried his numb fingers from the helm. He either a merchant vessel or a military ship. A seagoing cam-swayed on his feet as he surveyed the wreckage of his ship. The topof the foremast drooped at a drunken angle, and the sails hung in

paign will probably start with the PCs as members of the ship’s

tatters. Broken spars snarled what was left of the rigging. Somethingcomplement, under the nominal command of an NPC captain.The PCs could be marines on board a military ship, or mem-

was wrong with the rudder, too, and the ship rode far too low in the bers of a merchant ship’s crew. At this point, the Captain of thewater for his liking. Less than he’d expected though. The Alca Tordawas lucky to be afloat.

ship can send the PCs off willy-nilly on dangerous, hair-raisingspecial missions. As the PCs go up in levels, they may earn offi-

The crew began coming out, untying the safety lines and creep- cer’s rank and move up in the ship hierarchy.ing slowly from whatever safe hideaways they’d found for them- Somewhere around 3rd to 5th level, the PCs should have theselves, moving carefully and talking in whispers. One fellow gotdown on his belly and hugged the deck and sobbed. It only took a

resources to purchase or otherwise acquire their own ship.

few moments for Captain T’Do to account for the crew. Most werePerhaps they could capture a pirate vessel during a wild sea-bat-tle, and be given ownership as a reward. When the PCs acquire

present. But not all. their own ship, the fun really starts - as do the headaches for the“Shipmage Doroth,” he croaked. “Report!” DM. Imagine a group of adventurers with a ship, not bound toFrom the corner of his eye, he saw the misty outline of the phan-

tom sail wink out of existence. Minutes later, Doroth staggered onany one specific location, able to come and go as they please.Luckily, the DM can usually distract most players with an inter-

deck and stood blinking in the bright sunshine. Great dark circles sur- esting mission. The PCs will probably split up the duties on boardrounded her sea-blue eyes, circles put there by the strain of main-taining the phantom sail for the past two days, ever since they’d lost

the new ship, taking officer positions such as captain, comman-

the real one. One of her apprentices held her by the arm, offeringder of the marines, quartermaster, etc. Shipmages are officers in

support, although he wasn’t much steadier himself.the ship’s chain of command, usually staffing the “specialweapons and defense” position.

“One last thing, shipmage,” said T’Do, “then sleep for you. We’remissing a few of the crew. Can you locate them?”

Doroth simply looked at him and nodded her head, too weary tospeak unless it was necessary. She dug a silvered mirror out of a deeppocket, and croaked soft words over it. She began counting slowly.After a few moments she spoke, her voice broken and dry.

Shipmages have abilities that allow them to thrive in a seago-ing scenario. The shipmage is at home on the sea, and very pow-erful there, with abilities that enhance the ship’s operationalcapability. A ship-mage has great powers over air and water, andsome influence over fire. Seafarers must control fire at all costs.

RequirementsThe shipmage is a new Wizard kit for the AD&D® game.

Examples of shipmages in popular fiction include the mages inUrsula K. LeGuin’s A Wizard of Earthsea and the SeafolkWindfinders in Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series. The ship-mage is a valuable component of a ship’s crew, and thoseships that have one count themselves fortunate.

The idea for the shipmage kit was conceived and developedduring a long-running seagoing campaign. While seagoingcampaigns are not as common as land-based campaigns, theyoccur fairly often. TSR publishes several products useful in aseagoing campaign, such as Pirates of the Fallen Stars,the RED STEEL® setting, and the “Volkrad” adven-tures published in DUNGEON® Adventures.

A ship mage must meet the minimum ability requirementsfor a mage, and have a Dexterity of 14 or better. A shipmagewith an Intelligence and Dexterity of 16 or better gains a 10%bonus to earned XP. There are no racial restrictions on becom-ing a shipmage, other than the normal restrictions on mage eli-gibility. While most shipmages are single-class humans, thereare a few elven and half-elven fighter-shipmages.

Role of the ShipmageCircumstances force shipmages to be largely self-sufficient,

independent-minded people. A ship usually onlyhas one shipmage, possibly with one or two

apprentices. Sailing vessels are at sea for

DRAGON #235 31

long periods of time, so shipmagesrarely meet and converse with their ownkind. They take every opportunity to doso, however, when the chance arises.When two or more ships carrying ship-mages meet, the sea-mages go to greatlengths to visit and compare notes,spells, and stories. If the ships meetwhile in harbor, the mages shuttle backand forth between each other’s shipsconstantly.

If five or more shipmages meet andat least one of them is a master ship-mage, they may declare a shipmeet byunanimous consent. Shipmages declaretruce during a shipmeet, and none ofthem raise a hand against any of theothers. They also do everything theycan to prevent their ships from cominginto conflict. The seamages use the ship-meet to discuss spells, swap stories, andmake decisions about apprentices andshipmage candidates.

New apprentices are sometimes liter-ally bullied into the job. A shipmage inneed of an apprentice oftens grab apromising member of the crew andmakes him an offer he cannot refuse.Shipmages typically serve as apprenticesunder the tutelage of an older and moreexperienced shipmage until 3rd level. It ishere that the shipmage learns the dutiesand responsibilities of a proper ship-mage. Shipmages usually find their ownships when they reach 4th level. At thispoint, they are known as journeymen.Shipmages of 9th level or higher areknown as master shipmages.

Shipmages are busy and detail-oriented. No shipmage can afford theluxury of being distracted or absent-minded. Consequently, the shipmage isan ideal role for a conscientious playerwho likes to keep track of numerousdetails. The shipmage needs to knowexactly what is aboard the ship at anytime, from lanterns to navigation toolsto the nature of the cargo the ship is cur-rently carrying.

The player of a shipmage should beprepared to make lists of crew-memberinformation (level, skills, rank, etc.), food-stuffs, supplies, equipment, weapons,and anything else onboard the ship. Thatway, if the DM says you need a shovel,you have probably got one, and youhave the list to prove it. “Polka-dot paint?Sure. Third sea-chest on the left handside of the secondary hold, underneaththe flea-infested camel-hair rugs.”Although the player will probably haveto make lists, it is entirely possible thatthe shipmage would carry all of this

detailed information in memory, withoutneed to commit it to paper.

One of the shipmage’s prime respon-sibilities is to keep the ship in goodworking order. The shipmage uses acombination of spells and NWPs such asengineering, seamanship, navigation,and ship repair (new NWP) to help main-tain the ship. Practically the first spellsan apprentice seamage learns is mend-ing. And the apprentice uses it everyday, without fail. Similar spells includedefect structural flaw (see below), renewal(DUNGEON Adventures #58, “CaveatEmptor”), robust construction (see below),minor creation, and major creation.

A journeyman or better shipmage isexpected to be able to navigate compe-tently. The shipmage also has severalspells that help with navigation andpiloting, including absolute location (seebelow), depthsounder (see below) andfisheye (see below). Other spells of thistype include: locate object, clairvoyance,and infravision.

A sailing ship suitable for a seagoingcampaign can have a crew of anywherefrom five to fifty sailors. Members of thecrew are usually 0-level or 1st-levelfighters. Some of these may be hench-men or followers, in which case theymight be slightly higher level. The mem-bers of the crew do the tedious but nec-essary grunt work required to operatethe ship: swabbing decks, hauling sails,making sail repairs, handling cargo, etc.They also usually perform such duties asstanding watch, carrying the heavy stuff,digging holes, chopping trees, etc. Whena sea-serpent attacks, or a fierce stormhits, or the sahuagin stage a raid, or anyof the other numerous things that cango wrong on an adventuring ship, themembers of the crew are usually themost vulnerable and must be protected.

The shipmage should have a differ-ent philosophy about spellcasting thanthe normal mage. Instead of using spellsthat affect only a few people, the ship-mage should concentrate on spells thatimprove the survivability of the ship andits crew. A shipmage rarely casts a com-bat-oriented, single-target spell such asmagic missile. Instead, the shipmage usesspells such as affect normal fires, wail offog, fog cloud, levitate, rope trick, shield ves-sel (see below), and wind wail. Shipmagesalso make an effort to select long-dura-tion spells with wide areas of effect. Inaddition, please refer to the excellentdiscussion in “Arcane Lore: Sea Magic” inDRAGON Magazine #220 regarding stan-dard spells usable at sea.

DMs have used the “damaged ship”plot device to introduce new adventuresso often that it has become a cliche. Thewily player will work out many differentways to circumvent or minimize theeffects of this plot device. Typicalsources of ship damage in a fantasycampaign include monster attacks (seadragons, sea serpents, sahuagin), storms(hurricanes, gales), pirates, and reefs.What good does a hurricane anchor (seebelow) do in a normal campaign situa-tion? Very little. But at sea during a hur-ricane with the reefs looming ever clos-er and a sea-serpent growling at youfrom the deep water, a spell like thiscould save the ship. Look for mundaneways to improve the ship’s odds as well.Imagine everything that could gowrong, and make a plan for it. Developa “broken mast” contingency planbefore the ship breaks a mast.

A shipmage also provides the meansto enhance temporarily the ship’s speedand maneuverability. Players shouldimagine everything that they would likethe ship to be able to do, then designspells that make it so the ship can do it.More speed, tighter turns, and the abilityto withstand more damage: these are allthings that can make the differencebetween life and death on the high sea.

Experience for spellcastingPlayed properly, the shipmage casts

many spells practically every day, and notnecessarily during encounters. The DMshould award XP only when those spellsmake a difference. If the shipmage castsshield vessel (see below) when the crowsnest spots an approaching ship, and theship turns out to be friendly, the PC shouldreceive no XP. On the other hand, if theprecautionary shield vessel keeps the PCs’ship from being captured by pirates, theshipmage should receive full XP.

Shipmage familiarsAll seamage familiars must either live

on the ship or be able to keep up withthe ship. Typical familiars include: rat(night vision), cat (excellent night visionand superior hearing), parrot (superiorsense of taste), ship-snake (extremelysensitive sense of smell), and seabirdssuch as seagulls, albatrosses, and terns(usually offer superior sight).

Weapon proficienciesThe shipmage uses the normal mage

proficiencies, with the exception that theshipmage can become proficient withthe net.

32 NOVEMBER 1996

Nonweapon proficiencies Table 1: Chance of spell failure with substitute componentsShipmages receive seamanship as a

bonus NWP. Shipmages must obtainNavigation by 4th level, but they mustspend proficiency slots to do so.

Recommended NWPs include: car-pentry, direction sense, fishing, lan-guages, rope-use, seamstress/tailor, shiprepair (see sidebar) swimming, weathersense, engineering, and navigation.

How close is the substitutedcomponent to the original?Very CloseSimilarBarely relatedUnrelated

Spell failuremodifier

0%-10%-25%

Automatic failure

ExampleSleep: sawdust for sandRope trick: long hair for stringWater breathing: a bottle instead of a reed or strawNA

Special benefits

In general, most strictly land-basedNWPs are forbidden or modified toreflect the seagoing setting. A shipmagewould not learn how to ride a horse, forexample, but might learn how to ride adolphin or whale. Likewise, a shipmagewould not learn mining, but might learnabout pearl-farming.

Because of his close ties to the sea, theshipmage has a +1 bonus to all savingthrows while at sea or aboard ship (evenwhen docked). Conversely, the shipmagehas a -1 penalty applied to all savingthrows while on land. A shipmage whonever sets foot on land (after becoming ashipmage) receives a +2 bonus to all sav-ing throws while at sea. This bonus goesaway once the shipmage touches land,reverting to the normal +1/-1 foreverafter. The DM should strictly enforce therestriction on the +2 bonus.

Shipmages are prone to conduct spellresearch to come up with specialtyspells. The AD&D spell system is tremen-dously flexible, if the players takeadvantage of it by having their PCs con-duct spell research.

Sailors have a long tradition of mak-ing do in a pinch. To reflect this, the ship-mage can substitute material compo-nents when casting spells. In order to usea non-standard component, the playermust first propose a reasonable substi-tute, along with the rationale for why thesubstitution should work. The substitutedcomponent must be at least somewhatrelated; attempting to use totally incom-patible items causes spell failure. When aseamage uses a non-standard materialcomponent to cast a spell, there is a min-imum 10% chance of spell failure. TheDM then modifies the base chance ofspell failure according to Table 1. Forexample, a shipmage who attempts tocast a water breathing spell using a bottlehas a 35% chance of spell failure.

New nonweapon proficiency: shiprepair (1 slot, Int +1)

This NWP allows the mage to assess the stateof the ship and direct the crew to make any nec-essary repairs. Because of the higher level ofmaintenance, a ship under the constant care of amage with this proficiency gains a +1 bonus vs.any damaging attacks. The bonus is +1 for everythree levels of the mage. A 1st level mage pro-vides a +1 bonus, a 4th-level mage provides a +2bonus, etc. The bonus increases by a further +1 ifthe mage also has the engineering NWP. The pro-ficiency assumes that the mage uses magic suchas mending, unseen servant, levitate, and similarspells to help make necessary repairs.

The shipmage receives the normalmage starting allowance for money andequipment.

Shipmages have the option of usingtheir ship as their spellbook. Such “spell-ships” are covered with intricate carv-ings, lacquers, paintings, murals, strangearrangements of ropes, etc. The carvingsand decorations make up the spell infor-mation that a mage would normallyrecord in a spellbook. A normal magecannot read spells recorded in this man-ner, nor can a shipmage who uses aspellship read spells recorded in spell-books. The cost of recording the spell isthe same as if the shipmage hadrecorded it in a spellbook. The spellshipis a very visible sign of shipmage’s pres-ence and provides the shipmage withextreme motivation to protect the ship.

The advantage of this form of spellrecording is that the spellship is morerobust than a normal spellbook. Thespells are damaged only if the ship is, andthey can be “repaired” just as the shipcan. The disadvantage is that it is difficult(but not impossible) for the shipmage totransfer to a new ship. Shipmages whodo so lose 5-25% of their spells in theprocess. In addition, the transfer takesone week per level of the shipmage.

A shipmage counts as one level higherfor purposes of determining range, areaof effect, and other level-dependent para-meters when casting an air or water-based spell such as wall of fog, stinkingcloud, or whispering wind. The shipmagereceives a +15% bonus to learn suchspells. A shipmage counts as one levellower when casting fire-based spells andreceives a -15% penalty to learn suchspells. A shipmage can never cast earth-based spells (such as stoneskin, stoneshape,and transmute rock to mud). For example, a5th-level shipmage casting a gust of windcounts as a 6th-level caster. The sameshipmage attempting to cast a fireballcounts as a 4th-level caster for purposesof determining damage dice, range, etc.

The shipmage also has the ability toconduct spell research aboard ship,which would normally be nearly impossi-ble. The shipmage’s lab is not the tradi-tional stark and isolated wizard’s tower. Itis apt to be a corner of the cargo hold, acabin, or perhaps even the deck of theship. In a sense, the entire ship is part ofthe mage’s lab. To reflect this, 10% of thevalue of the ship counts toward the valueof the shipmage’s lab. The shipmageshould also be something of a scavenger.A shipmage should attempt to find atleast half a dozen strange items at everynew port. The DM should assign a mone-tary value to these items. The shipmagecounts 30% of the value of the itemstoward the value of his lab. Typical exam-ples of strange items include: a spearfrom a cannibal tribe, white sand from avirgin beach, black sand taken from theslopes of an erupting volcano, and thevinegar-preserved hand of a sahuaginraider.

Special hindrancesThe shipmage must be a “seafarer” at

all times. To meet this criteria, he musteither be an active member of a ship’screw or be shipwrecked and activelyseeking to return to the sea. Those whodo not meet these criteria are allowed aone-month grace period to find a newship. If this time expires, the shipmagepermanently loses all special abilitiesconnected with the kit. A former ship-mage is referred to as “beached,” and heis looked upon with pity and derision byactive shipmages.

Wealth optionsThe starting resources for the ship-

mage are the same as for a normal mage.However, no other type of mage canbring along what is essentially a mobilelaboratory. This can quickly become asignificant advantage for the PC.

In a seagoing campaign, the resourcesavailable to the PCs are usually greaterthan those in a normal campaign. ThePCs have a ship to carry their equipment,even if actual paying cargo takes up partof the ship’s space. At the same time, it’seasy to hare off to exotic locales. The PCsare free to “run away” from problems or

34 NOVEMBER 1996

seek out their own adventures. The DMshould go with this. If the PCs want to sailthrough remote archipelagos in search oflost tribes, let them. You can bring themback around sooner or later.

First-level spellsAbsolute Location(Divination)Range: 0Duration: InstantArea of Effect: CasterComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1Save: None

Tired of being blown off-course andhaving no idea where you are? This spellprovides the mage with a navigationalfix (the distance and direction) to aknown landmark. The mage must bevery familiar with the site. Suitable land-marks include the home port, an often-visited island, or a distinctive mountain.The navigational fix is accurate to within200 yards. This is not accurate enoughto navigate through shoals or reefs, but itis good enough to determine which wayis “home.” The spell works over world-wide distances but only on the “homeplanet” of the mage casting the spell.

The material component of the spell(not consumed) is a map of the worldworth at least 50 gp. The map does nothave to be accurate.

Cast-Iron Stomach(Evocation/Invocation)Range: TouchDuration: 1 hour/levelArea of Effect: one target creature/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1Save: None

This spell allows the recipient to eatbasically any food without fear of upsetstomach or other violent gastric protest.This spell was developed by mages whowere attempting to establish trade con-tacts among the many small islands ofthe Archipelagos. The spell provides noprotection against the effects of alcoholor toxins. It simply prevents unfortunateinvoluntary reactions to unusual orspicy food.

Cure Lumber(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: PermanentArea of Effect: 8 cubic feet/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

This spell takes 8 cubic feet of greenlumber per caster level and cures it, ren-dering the green lumber ready for use.Sea-mages rarely use this spell, althoughit is in their repertoire. There is nothingbetter for quick repairs when a damagedship barely manages to limp into someremote deserted tropical island harboror bay.

The material components are a smallclay model of a lumber-drying kiln (notconsumed), a sliver of cured wood (con-sumed).

Depthsounder(Divination)Range: 60’/levelDuration: 5 rounds/levelArea of Effect: 10’ radius cylinder, 60’long per levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1Save: None

This spell provides the caster with anestimate of the water depth below thecaster and within the range of the spell.The estimate is accurate to within 10%of the real value. It is important to notethat the spell reports the average localwater depth within the area of effect.

This means that if the water depth var-ied from 30’ to 60’ within a very smalldistance, the spell would report an aver-age depth of 45’.

This spell is most commonly used tonavigate through shallow water. Thecaster takes a position in the prow ofthe ship, casts the spell, and then givessteering directions.

The material component is a smallblack stone, which the mage tosses intothe water while casting the spell.

Detect Structural Flaw(Divination)Range: 10’ per levelDuration: 1 turn per levelArea of Effect: 10’ x 10’ area per levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

This spell allows the caster to detecthidden structural flaws in items such asceilings, floors, armor, weapons, ships,piers, buildings, etc. The spell is used pri-marily to assess the structural soundnessof seagoing vessels. A shipmage whoregularly uses this spell (and acts uponthe information gathered) grants a +1bonus to the ship’s saving throws vs. any

DRAGON #235 35

kind of damage. Storms, weapons,impact, swamping, etc.

The caster may move slowly (one-quarter normal speed) while maintain-ing the spell, but may not cast otherspells. The caster may detect flaws up to1’ deep in wood and stone, and up to 1”deep in metal. Scanning an “item” suchas a shield, helmet, sword, or specificsupport beam, etc., requires 1 round.Scanning an “area” such as a deck orceiling requires 1 turn per 10’ x 10’ areainspected.

The material component (consumed)is a 1” diameter unflawed steel disk withridges (easily made with a file) on theouter rim, worth 1 sp.

Desalinate(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: PermanentArea of Effect: 8 gallons/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 roundSave: None

Desalinate removes dissolved saltsand other contaminants from seawater.The filtered water is potable. This spell isnot like create water, which createssomething from nothing, and desalinateis much less effective than the priestspell purify food and drink. However, itwill work, in a pinch. Desalinate simplyseparates the desirable portion of theseawater (water) from the undesirablematerials (dissolved salts and minerals).Desalinate has no effect on livingcreatures.

The material component (consumed)is a small piece of fine paper or cloth(worth 1 gp) which is used as a filter.

Predict Tide(Divination)Range: 0Duration: InstantArea of Effect: CasterComponents: S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

Predict tide provides the caster with ageneral indication of the tides (time,water level at high and low tides) in thelocal area for the next 24 hours. Thebase accuracy is 75%, plus 2% per levelof the caster. Even if the accuracy rollfails, the most that will happen is thatthere will be a slight error in the esti-mated time or water level.

The material component (not con-sumed) is a silver disk engraved with animage of the moon. The disk must be

worth not less than 10 gp. On a worldwith more than one moon, the spellrequires one silver disk for each moon.

Being able to magically predict thetide is not terribly important in an areawhere the tides follow regular patterns.However, on a world with two or moremoons, this spell can be very handyindeed.

Preserve(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: 1 yearArea of Effect: 1 cubic foot/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

This spell preserves food (or otherorganic material, such as ropes, leather,fat) for a period of one year. The spellprotects against normal rot or decay,insect infestations, damp rot, etc. It pro-vides no protection against extraordi-nary environmental stress (magic, fire,item left out in the sun, dumped directlyin anthill, etc.)

The material component (consumed)is a small amount of fine beeswax.

Protection from Rust(Abjuration)Range: TouchDuration: 1 year per caster levelArea of Effect: Target object,Components: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 roundSave: None

Using this spell, the mage can protectan item from mundane rust (oxidation)for one year per caster level. The spellalso provides a one-time bonus of +1per three caster levels on saving throwsversus rust monster effects. The spell isintended for use on small to mediummetal items (daggers, swords, pieces ofarmor), not large metal structures.

The material component (consumed)is a specially formulated lacquer, whichthe mage applies to the item to be pro-tected. This lacquer costs not less than 5gp per application.

A shipmage who regularly uses thisspell on the ship’s equipment reducesthe yearly maintenance cost of the shipby 10%.

Strip(Alteration)ReversibleLevel: 1Range: 10’ + 10’/levelDuration: lnstant

Area of Effect: 100 square feet/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

Mages use this spell to strip paint,barnacles, ice, etc., off surfaces. The spellcan strip 100 square feet of surface ofrough work, or 10 square feet per levelof fine work such as a piece of delicatefurniture.

A cog with a deck length of 85’, mod-eled as a half-cylinder with radius 10’has approximately 2,700 square feet ofhull exposed to barnacles. Assume thatthe exposed area is 80% covered, 2150square feet. A 3rd-level mage could strip300 square feet, or about one-seventhof the total surface area per application.

It is difficult to see how this spell couldbe turned to offensive or defensive use. Itmight (with the appropriate tool) be ableto de-scale a large fish such as a pike.

The material component (consumed)is a scraping tool appropriate to the sub-stance being scraped, i.e., a barnaclescraper to strip barnacles off a ship’shull, or an ice scraper for scraping ice offa sidewalk.

The reverse form of the spell, apply,applies a layer of liquid such as paint,pitch, caulk, etc. to a surface such as aship’s hull or deck. The apply spell can-not be used to coat mobile creatures.

Vermin-ward(Abjuration)Range: 0Duration: 1 week/levelArea of Effect: 100 square feet/level,Components: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

The vermin-ward prevents verminsuch as spiders, wasps, mosquitoes, flies,mice, rats, small snakes, and other smallpests from entering the warded area.Mages often use this spell to protectgrain silos and cargo holds. The magemust trace the perimeter of the wardedarea with a slurry of noxious chemicalsthat costs 1 gp per 10 linear feet. Thespell consumes the material component.

Second-level spellsAnchor(Alteration)ReversibleRange: TouchDuration: InstantArea of Effect: TargetComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 roundSave: Negates

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The anchor spell causes a ship’sanchor to fully deploy in one round,regardless of water depth. The anchorsets well and holds the ship firmly inplace. The deployment is much fasterthan a manual deployment. The shipmust be at or near a stop in order to usethis spell. The anchor spell gives ships a+1 on saves vs. storm damage.

If used offensively (to drop theanchor of a pursuing ship, for example),the target ship uses the saving throw ofits captain.

The reverse of the spell, weigh anchor,pulls up a physical anchor in a singleround. This is much faster than manuallyretracting the anchor. If used offensively,the target ship uses the saving throw ofits captain.

The material component of the spell(not consumed) is the ship’s anchor.

Collision Alarm(Abjuration, Evocation)Range: 50 yardsDuration: 8 hours +1 hour/levelArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2 roundsSave: None

This spell sounds an audible alarm ifany object larger than a small rowboat(i.e., a reef, dock, or another ship) comeswithin 50 yards of the target vessel. Whentriggered, the collision alarm lets out apiercing whistle that is clearly audiblethroughout the ship, and for a half-mileradius around the ship. Otherwise, thisspell is just like the 1st-level alarm spell.

Diskboat(Evocation/Invocation)Range: 0Duration: 1 turn/levelArea of Effect: 10’ long, 5’ wide oval,Components: V,S,MCasting Time: 2 roundsSave: None

This spell is an adapted form ofTensor’s floating disk. The spell forms aboat-like oval disk (with edges) that canmove out over water. The mage (andother passengers) can ride in thediskboat. The diskboat can vary in alti-tude from 1’ to 10’ above sea level andcan carry 200 lbs. per level of the caster.The diskboat is at the mercy of wind andcurrent, although it can be rowed, sailed,or towed, if appropriate equipment isavailable. The spell essentially forms asmall rowboat, so it does not handlestormy weather well. The diskboat pro-vides no special stability, and can tip

over just as a normal boat can. Thediskboat can also move over land, ifrequired.

The material components (con-sumed) are a small clear disk worth notless than 2 gp and a drop of mercury.

Fog Light(Evocation)Range: 60 yardsDuration: 1 turn/levelArea of Effect: 20’ radius globeComponents: V,MCasting Time: 2Save: Special

This spell creates a light of a particu-lar golden-yellow hue that penetratesfog. In even the thickest, most noxiousmundane fog, the softly glowing foglight provides a 60’ radius of illumina-tion. In a wall of fog, the radius of illumi-nation is 40’. In a fog cloud, the radius ofillumination drops to 20’. The fog rightilluminates as a torch in non-foggy con-ditions, since the color of light is verystrange. A permanent version of fog lightexists.

This spell may be cast upon a crea-ture’s visual organs, with the samerestrictions and effects as the light spell.

The material components (con-sumed) are as a light spell (firefly or apiece of phosphorescent moss) plus asmall (1” x 1”) piece of glass stained adeep, translucent yellow. The stainedglass costs at least 1 gp.

Eagle-vision(Invocation)Range: 0Duration: 5 rounds +1 round/levelArea of Effect: CasterComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2Save: None

The eagle-vision spell has two possi-ble manifestations, either of which thecaster can use. The caster must specifywhich version will be used when memo-rizing the spell. The first version tem-porarily duplicates the effect of a 20:ltelescope, under the caster’s mentalcontrol. The spell manifests itself as aslightly warped-looking piece of air infront of the caster’s dominant eye. Thesecond version reverses the magiopticfield to produce a microscope with 20:1magnification.

The material component (consumed) isa piece of optical glass worth at least 1 gp.

DRAGON #235 37

Fisheye(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: 2 hours +1 hour/levelArea of Effect: Creature touchedComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 roundSave: None

The recipient of fisheye spell can seeup to 60’ through water as if it wereclear air. Fisheye is extremely useful forspotting underwater hazards such assubmerged reefs, logs, sandbars, andargumentative sahuagin with cross-bows. Mages also sometimes use it forspotting other items underwater, such asshipwrecks and schools of fish.

Note that the spell functions properlyonly if there is sufficient light by whichto see. The fisheye is useless at night, noris it effective if the water is deep enoughto block out surface light. A shipmagecould, of course, provide a magical lightsource with which to augment the use ofthe fisheye spell.

The material component (consumed)is the eye of a fish, which the castermust swallow whole.

Flamedouse(Alteration)Range: 5 yards/levelDuration: InstantArea of Effect: 100 square feet per levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2Save: Special

This spell is specifically designed toput out nonmagical fires. The spellinstantly squelches all flames within thearea of effect. The flamedouse extin-guishes torches, small campfires, a pud-dle of flaming oil, or the secondary firescaused by a fireball detonation. It wouldnot have any effect on the fireball itself.An extremely large, hot, well-establishedfire (such as a shipboard fire that hasbeen burning for a turn or more) might(50%) only be reduced to half effective-ness, but the spell instantly extinguishesmost (95%) nonmagical fires.

The material components (con-sumed) are a pinch of sand and a foamyconcoction worth 1 gp per application.The material components must bethrown at the base of the fire.

Gripdeck(Alteration)Range: 0Duration: 1 hour/levelArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2Save: None

A gripdeck spell improves the traction ofthe deck and actually makes it “grip” asailor’s feet, thus reducing the chance ofbeing swept overboard in high winds,storms, rough seas, extreme maneuvers, orcombat. Anyone who might be swept over-board gains a +3 saving throw bonus. Ifthe event does not allow a saving throw, allpersonnel now receive an unadjusted sav-ing throw vs. paralysis to avoid beingswept or knocked overboard. Anyone whodoes somehow fall overboard falls nomore than 10’ from the ship.

Helmsman(Evocation/Invocation)Range: 0Duration: 1 hour +1 turn/levelArea of Effect: HelmComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

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This spell summons a disembodiedforce (like an unseen servant) that main-tains a sailing ship on a preset course. Ifany navigation checks are required, thehelmsman uses the Intelligence of thesummoning mage as a basis for deter-mining success. If the helmsman comesacross an unexpected obstacle (a reef,or another ship), it immediately notifiesthe caster. The helmsman could theoreti-cally be adapted to control a number ofdifferent types of transport.

The material component (consumed)is a small doll of a helmsman worth noless than 1 gp.

Intruder Alert(Abjuration, Evocation)Range: 0Duration: 8 hours +1 hour/levelArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2Save: None

This variant of the alarm spell wardsthe whole ship. The principal differenceis that the spell wards the whole ship,and not just a 20’ cube. The spell alsohas a longer duration. The caster hasthe option of issuing any number of“passkeys” in the form small jeweledskeleton keys. The keys must be worth aminimum of 10 gp. Anyone carrying a“passkey” does not trigger the alarm.

The material components are thesame as those required for the alarmspell.

Seal(Abjuration)Range: TouchDuration: 1 day per levelArea of Effect: 4 cubic feet per levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2 roundsSave: None

The caster places this spell on a chestor other container. The chest is thenabsolutely sealed against the detrimentaleffects of normal environmental forces.A sealed chest would protect the con-tents from moisture (even immersion),gas, heat (up until the point where thechest caught on fire), etc. In an extreme-ly hostile environment (such as a fire),the sealed chest must make a savingthrow each round to retain integrity andprotect its contents. Mages often use thisspell to protect spellbooks, spell compo-nents, and other valuable items.

The material component (not con-sumed) is a chest worth at least 25 gp.

Stormsail(Alteration)Range: 60’ + 10’/levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 hour +3 turns/levelCasting Time: 2 roundsArea of Effect: 1 sail per levelSave: None

The material component (consumed)is a small square of starched sailcloth.

This spell strengthens a sail tem-porarily so that it does not tear in astorm. The spell also strengthens themast to handle the increased load. Astormsail allows the ship to handle awind 10 knots above its maximumdesign speed with no possibility of struc-tural damage. The stormsail provides noprotection above this limit.

Swim(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: 8 hours +1 hour/levelArea of Effect: 1 creature/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2Save: None

This spell allows the target creature toswim (as the NWP) at MV 12, with normal

combat penalties for being in the water. Ifcast on someone who has the swimmingNWP, it provides them with a +2 bonusto any required proficiency checks.

The spell also allows the recipient toendure ten rounds of immersion in coldor frigid water per caster level withoutthe possibility of hypothermia. It doesnot allow water-breathing, nor does itprovide any extra buoyancy to hold uparmor or other heavy items.

The material component (consumed)is a small air bladder, painted red.

Turn(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: InstantArea of Effect: 1 vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2Save: None

Allows a ship to turn as if it were onemaneuverability class better (see DRAGON

Magazine #116, “High Seas”), withoutpossibility of heeling, sinking, or causingstructural damage. The caster can affecta vessel 20’ long plus 10’ per level. Notethat the spell only allows a tight turn, itdoes not force a tight turn.

DRAGON #235 39

Third-level spellsCrew of Phantoms(Illusion/Phantasm)Range: 0Duration: 3 rounds/levelArea of Effect: 6’ radius around targetsComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

Related to mirror image, this spell pro-vides 2d4 exact duplicates of every mem-ber of the crew of a vessel (up to a maxi-mum of 30 people). Each real member ofthe crew must carry a small “badge”worth 10 gp, identifying them as mem-bers of the crew. The badges are not con-sumed by the spell. Otherwise, the spellacts as if every member of the crew hada mirror image spell placed upon them.

Doublespace(Alteration)Range: 0Duration: 24 hours +1 hour/levelArea of Effect: Cube 5’ on a side/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

The doublespace spell allows a vol-ume of space to “be” two times largerthan it actually “is.” In addition, objectsin the doubled space have an effectiveweight of half their “real” weight. Forexample, if a 7th-level mage casts dou-blespace on a cargo hold with a volumeof 875 cubic feet, the cargo hold wouldthen have an effective volume of 1,750cubic feet. The spell is great for packingextra cargo onto a ship and can vastlyincrease the profit margins of merchantvessels. The spell can only be used oninanimate objects.

If the spell expires while materialremains within the folded space, or if asuccessful dispel magic is cast upon thearea, disaster can occur as the materialsuddenly occupies its original volume.The doublespace immediately ceases tofunction if any dimension-altering spellsor magical items (such as rope-trick, dimen-sion-door, teleport, portable hole, or a bug ofholding) are used within the area of effect.

The material component (consumed)is a 1” wide strip of paper (worth not lessthan 1 gp) twisted and joined so as toonly have one side.

Fast Travel(Alteration)ReversibleRange: TouchDuration: 1 hour +1 hour/level

Area of Effect: 1 vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

This spell is usually used on seagoingvessels, although it would work on ariverboat or skyship as well. The spellworks by magically reducing hull frictionand augmenting sail efficiency. Typicaluses of the spell include: fleeing combat,chasing a faster ship, running before astorm, and making a quick passage.

The first form of the spell fast travelcauses the vessel to proceed at a speed5% greater than its normal maximumspeed, per level of the caster. There is amaximum speed increase of 50%. Thevessel must save vs. crushing blow onceper hour. If the save fails, the vesselimmediately drops to its maximum ratedspeed and must receive major repairs atthe earliest opportunity. The repairs costnot less than 10% of the original cost ofthe vessel. The caster can cancel the spellat any time. The caster does not need toconcentrate on this spell once it is cast.

The second form of the spell allows aship to proceed at 100% of its basemovement speed for the duration of thespell, even if there is no wind.

The material component of the spell(not consumed) is an elaborately deco-rated hand-fan, which must be wavedfor the duration of the spell (althoughnot necessarily by the caster). The fanmust be worth at least 30 gp.

The shipmage may reverse the firstform of this spell and use it against anenemy ship. The reverse of the first form,slow travel, reduces speed by 5% per levelof the caster. In this case, the enemy shipgains a saving throw (as the captain of thevessel) to avoid the effect of the spell.

Locate Person(Divination)Range: 1 mile/levelDuration: 1 round/levelArea of Effect: CasterComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

This spell provides the caster with atarget person’s current range and direc-tion, relative to the caster. The castermust have an accurate description ofthe target to use this spell. The basechance of success is 5% per level of thecaster. If the caster is familiar with thetarget, apply a +10% bonus to the basechance. If the caster has a piece of cloth-ing or other personal item belonging tothe target, add a +20% bonus. These

modifiers are cumulative.The caster can automatically locate

anyone who is wearing any item wizardmarked with the caster’s personal rune.In addition, the range of the spell dou-bles. All wizard-marked items withinrange show as small red lights in themirror used for the spell.

Locate person can be blocked by 10’of earth, 2’ of stone, or 1” of lead. Anumber of spells (such as non-detection,aura alteration, sunctuary the interior of arope-trick spell effect, etc.) also block thelocate person.

The material component of the spell(not consumed) is a fine silver mirrorworth at least 100 gp.

Phantom Sail(Evocation/Invocation)Range: 60’Duration: SpecialArea of Effect: 1 vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

This spell summons up a ghostly sailthat attaches itself to the ship (no mastis required). The phantom sail acts justas a normal sail, and is great for thosetimes when a ship loses a sail or a mast.The spell is adaptable to form a phan-tom rudder, phantom keel, phantomsteering wheel, etc. It cannot form aphantom hull, however. The phantomsail lasts for as long as the caster canmaintain concentration.

The material component (consumed)is a small model of the equipment to bereplaced.

Robust Construction(Alteration)ReversibleRange: TouchDuration: SpecialArea of Effect: one target up to 1,000cubic feet/levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 turnSave: None

This spell makes a constructiontougher and more robust for oneencounter with a damaging event suchas a storm, collision with a ship or reef,damaging spell such as a fireball, ram-ming, etc. The spell lasts for oneencounter, but lasts for the duration ofthat encounter. While the encounterlasts, the construction gains a +1 bonuson saves vs. any type of damage pertwo levels of the caster. A ship withrobust construction placed on it receives

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a saving throw (as the captain of thevessel) to resist warp wood.

As an example, Doroth (M5) the ship-mage sees a storm on the horizon. Sheimmediately casts a robust constructionon the ship. Several hours later, thestorm hits. The DM rules that the stormis equivalent to a large catapult hitting athick wood wall, and the ship mustmake a saving throw once per hour untilthe storm has passed. See the DMGTable 52: Structural Saving Throws. Theship has a +3 bonus on all of its savingthrows because of Doroth’s spell.

The caster must provide a few chips ofmaterial of the same type as the construc-tion to be reinforced, (i.e., wood chips fora ship, stone chips for a stone wall).

The reverse of the spell, weaken con-struction, applies a -1 penalty to a struc-ture’s saving throws per two levels of thecaster. In this case, the structure receivesa saving throw vs. the spell as the com-mander or captain of the structure.

Sail in Irons(Enchantment, Alteration)Range: 50 yards + 10 yards/levelDuration: 1 round/levelArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: ½

This spell can only be used when anenemy ship attempts a turn. The spellcauses the target vessel to lose inertiawhen coming about so that it stops withits bow pointing into the wind, whichrenders its sails useless. The shipremains in irons for a minimum of oneround per caster level. The captain ofthe target vessel receives a saving throwvs. spells for one-half effect. In addition,the captain of the enemy vessel mustmake a navigation or seamanship profi-ciency check to get the ship movingagain, once the spell expires. Putting anenemy ship’s sail in irons is something ofa coup and will cause the enemy sailorsto curse and swear heavily.

The material component (consumed)is a link of heavy iron chain worth notless than 1 gp.

Shield Vessel(Evocation)Range: TouchArea of Effect: one vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

The shield vessel spell allows the mageto place a shield spell around a struc-

ture, protecting everyone within thearea of effect. The target is usually aship, but a mage could conceivablyadapt the spell to protect a small keepor tower. The shield vessel protects thecrew of the vessel just as the shield spellprotects its caster. Since the shield effecttotally surrounds the vessel, anyoneonboard receives a +1 bonus to savingthrows against attacks that originatefrom off the ship.

A series of finely wrought pieces ofsilver jewelry made to resemble smallshields make up the material compo-nent of the spell. The silver shields mustbe placed around the perimeter of thevessel to be protected. The total value ofthe shields must be at least 500 gp. Thesilver shields are not consumed by thespell, allowing the spell to be used againand again. However, if the total value ofthe shields falls below 500 gp (throughwear, battle-damage, vandalism, theft,etc.), the shield vessel spell does not work.

Fourth-level spellsHurricane Anchor(Alteration)Range: 0Duration: Instant

Area of Effect: Target vessel, 20’ long +10’/caster levelComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 4Save: None

The hurricane anchor holds a shipfirmly in place in winds up to 150 milesper hour. The spell prevents damagefrom the wind and from the tossing sea,but does not provide any protectionfrom flying debris. A ship with a hurri-cane anchor spell placed upon it cansafely weather a hurricane.

The material components are theship’s anchor (not consumed) and astrong piece of steel wire worth at least5 gp (consumed).

Smooth Sailing(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: 10 hoursArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 4Save: None

Smooth sailing provides the targetvessel with a calm passage and a nor-mal movement rate through severestorms, without possibility of damage to

DRAGON #235 41

the ship. It will not work entirely againststorms of gale strength or higher. Withinthe area of effect, gales become severestorms, hurricanes become gales, etc.The ship may still be damaged by suchstorms, but at least they will be greatlyreduced in effect. Note that smooth sail-ing does nothing to affect the actualweather, it simply provides a smoothpath for the ship and for the ship only.

The material component (not con-sumed) of the spell is a small model ofthe ship mounted in the middle of agyroscope. The total assembly musthave a value of at least 400 gp. In cam-paigns where a gyroscope would be ananachronism, the material component(consumed) is a small keg of fine oilworth a minimum of 25 gp. The casterpours the oil into the sea to completethe spell.

Wind of the Zephyrs(Evocation/Invocation)ReversibleRange: SpecialDuration: 4 hours +1 hour/levelArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 2 turnsSave: None

This spell summons a strong, con-stant wind which propels the ship at150% of its base movement speed. Thespell also supplies magical structuralreinforcement so that the ship can han-dle the extra speed without damage tothe sails, masts, or superstructure.

The reverse of the spell, unfriendlyzephyr, summons a strong, chaotic windwhich reduces the target vessel’s speedby 50%. The targeted vessel must savevs. crushing blow each hour or suffermajor damage to the ship, such as atorn sail, cracked mast, broken spar, orshattered boom. If the result of savingthrow is a “1,” the vessel capsizes. Thetargeted vessel is allowed a savingthrow (as the captain of the vessel) toresist the unfriendly zephyr.

Fifth-level spellsBlinkship(Alteration)Range: TouchDuration: 1 round/levelArea of Effect: one vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 3Save: None

Blinkship is much like blink, except thatthe whole ship blinks, not just the caster.Use the rules given under the blink spell

description to determine when the blinkoccurs, which direction, and to determinethe success of enemy attacks. When theship blinks, it reappears 50’ from its pre-vious position. The ship cannot blinkonto land or into a solid object. If the shipblinks into another ship that is smallerthan itself, the smaller ship displaces. Ifthe ship blinks into a ship that is the samesize or larger, re-roll the direction.

The mage must make special prepa-rations to use this spell. The mage mustdistribute a number of small jeweledtokens throughout the ship. Each tokenmust be wizard marked by the caster.The total value of the tokens must be atleast 1,000 gp. The tokens are not con-sumed by the blinkship spell. If the valueof the tokens falls below 1,000 gp,through theft, deterioration, or battle-damage, the blinkship spell will not work.

Wild Jibe(Alteration, Evocation)Range: 100 yards +20 yards/levelDuration: 1 roundArea of Effect: Target vesselComponents: V,S,MCasting Time: 5Save: Special

The wild jibe spell sends a dangerous,highly focused burst of wind at an enemyvessel. The wind has several detrimentaleffects. The primary effect of the spell is tocause the heavy booms at the foot of thesails to sweep across the decks of the ves-sel from one side to the other. Any per-sonnel on deck must save vs. paralyzationor be hit by the boom as it crosses thedeck. Anyone who fails the saving throwtakes 2d6 hp damage and is swept over-board. On vessels that do not have masts,all personnel receive a +3 bonus to thesaving throw vs. paralysis.

The secondary effects are all aimedat the vessel itself. The captain of theship must make a saving throw vs.paralysis. If the saving throw fails, all thespars break. If the saving throw fails by3 or more, the masts also break. If thesaving throw fails by 6 or more, the tar-get ship capsizes. Even if the captain’ssaving throw vs. paralysis succeeds, thetarget vessel is still delayed for 2d4+1rounds while the crew re-establishescontrol of the ship.

Seventh-level spellDimensional Fog(Conjuration/Summoning)Range: Sight distanceDuration: InstantArea of Effect: one vessel or group

Components: V,S,MCasting Time: 1 roundSave: None

This spell is used to send its targets toalternate realities (or alternate crystalspheres). The mage casting the spellusually does not have the targets bestinterests in mind, although the spellcould theoretically be used for limitedinter-planar transport. Dimensional fogcan only be used when a dense fogdescends upon the area of effect, typi-cally a seagoing vessel or tight groupingof folk. Weather magic can be used toprovide the fog, but spells such as wall offog are insufficient. There are severalother restrictions. First, the caster mustbe within sight distance of the area ofeffect. Second, the caster may not goalong with the target vessel.

When the spell is cast, the fogbecomes thick, misty, silvery, andsound-deadening. When the fog dispers-es (usually several hours later), the ves-sel is on an alternate prime-materialplane (or in a different crystal sphere).The caster can either specify a destina-tion or let the destination be random.The alternate plane must meet severalrequirements. First, it must be a viablealternate world, not a plane. The victimsmay not be sent to places like outerGehenna or the Elemental Plane of Fire.Second, the alternate world must be atleast marginally habitable. Sending thevictims to a planet with no air is notallowed; sending them to a plane wherethe atmosphere is so thin that it is bare-ly breathable is allowed. Third, the alter-nate prime material plane must have anavigable sea for the ship to sail upon.Fourth, while this spell could be used tosend its victims to Ravenloft, it cannot beused to escape Ravenloft.

The spell does not provide any auto-matic way home. There must be a wayhome, although the victims might haveto be quite clever and industrious inorder to find it.

The material component (consumed)is a small sphere of finest crystal (worthnot less than 500 gp) filled with cloudywater, which must be swirled while thespell is cast.

Ted Zuvich tells us that his son Alex typedhis first lines while Ted wrote this article. “I’mnot sure what they meant, but I’m sure hewas trying to tell me something. Being afather is definitely a stormy sea, but whenthat wee boy smiles, it’s all worth it.”

42 NOVEMBER 1996

Sea monsters are a staple of fantasy,both in gaming and in fiction. Mostare denizens of the upper levels of

the ocean, if not inhabitants of the shal-lower reaches. In the ultimate depths ofthe real-world oceans, however, dwellmonsters more terrible than anything alegend-maker can create. With only slightmodifications, mainly in size, these crea-tures are perfect for the AD&D® game.

Conditions in the depthsWater has weight, just like anything

else. Thus, the more of the stuff that isover someone, the greater the weighthe must bear. Oddly enough, animalsthat live in the depths of the sea are notmassively powerful, well-armored brutessuch as anyone might reasonablyexpect. (Jules Verne’s scientist characterin Twenty Thousand Leagues Under theSea, it may be recalled, assumed that the“sea unicorn” they were chasing - i.e.,the submarine Nautilus - answered thedescription of an animal that dwelled inthe ocean depths.) In fact, the flesh ofdeep-sea fish is not only extraordinarilytough but it is also so soft as to be littlemore than jelly. The bones of fishes liv-ing at this depth are also weak. PoorArmor Class is the first AD&D translationof this, with only the exceptional deep-sea animal having an Armor Class ofeven 7 or better.¹

Note that PCs and NPCs alike are sub-ject to the same pressure at thesedepths, a pressure that a simple potion ofwater breathing cannot neutralize.Specialized magical items, such as acloak of the manta ray might be able toneutralize the pressure, and a ring of freeaction would by definition do so. Re-readthe descriptions of aquatic magicalitems carefully, then decide what eachcan and cannot do in the depths.

Creatures deal with the nearly com-plete lack of sunlight at these depths ina number of ways. Either they haveextremely large eyes, to catch what littlelight there is, or they are blind. Even fishthat can see, however, rely largely onthe senses of hearing, smell, and touch.Fish can sense even subtle changes inwater pressure by means of the lateral

1. Size is another factor. Most animals living atthese depths are only a few inches long, with a six-footer (described above) being a true titan amongthem. These creatures must reduce surface area soas to keep the water pressure - 7 or 8 tons persquare inch - to the absolute minimum. Deep-seafishes brought up from the depths are relieved ofthis pressure so abruptly that their air bladders maybe forced out of their mouths. (This is all that comesout; contrary to popular myth, the entire fish willnot be turned inside-out.)

DRAGON #235 43

line that runs along each side of theirbodies. Even near the surface, sharksuse this means of picking up vibrationsin the water set up by injured and strug-gling fish; when vision is chancy at best,this ability to sense vibrations becomesmuch more important.

When creating animals in the oceandepths, here are some realistic colorschemes: From 500-1,600’ down, thefishes are generally gray, silvery, or palebrown. In lower depths than that, thefish tend to be dark brown, pure black,black with a violet or coppery cast, or,oddly enough, bright red or orange. Thereason for this is that the long waves oflight at the red and orange end of thespectrum are the first to be absorbed bywater, so that fish of those colors appearto be black when encountered in thedepths of the sea. If an NPC orders theparty to find a brightly-colored fish of aparticular type in the depths, this cancause endless (and amusing) confusion.Crustaceans such as shrimp are brighterin hue, generally being red, violet, orbrown, while the squids and their rela-tives can be of a fantastic variety ofever-changing colors.

The most famous deep-sea residents,such as the angler fish, are known pri-marily for carrying their own lightsalong. This living light, or biolumines-cence, is generally created by eithercolonies of luminescent bacteria or byspecialized light organs. Light can beused both as a lure for prey, and as adazzling defense mechanism. Squidsand octopi are famous for blindingadversaries with clouds of ink; thosethat live in the ocean depths produceinstead a cloud of luminous particles,generally either bright blue or blue-green in color. The more potent lightdefenses can have an effect like the sun-burst power of a wand of illumination.

Light sources will definitely be neces-sary for PCs, even though they will bringevery predator for miles around on topof them. Visibility without them will beas per the “Fog, dense or blizzard” partof the visibility table in the rules, withthis difference: the numbers are in feet,not yards. Save for the occasional squid-hunting sperm whale, there are nowarm-blooded animals in the oceandepths, so infravision powers based onpicking up body heat are of little or novalue, which is tough on elves. Underthese conditions, a wand of illuminationmay be the most prized magical posses-sion of all on a deep-sea adventure, atleast after whatever magical device

allows the PCs to survive underwater inthe first place.

Now for the single factor of deep-sealife that an adventuring party will bemost interested in. Because there is nosunlight, there is no vegetable mattersuch as seaweed present, so all the foodavailable — such as it is — is animal innature. Animal food for creatures in thisenvironment consists either of eachother or dead creatures from above thatsink into the depths. Of course, all thefish and other creatures in the upper lev-els get first crack at the second course, sovery little remains for those on the bot-tom rung. Consequently, the denizens ofthe deep have to be able to eat anythingand make the most of every opportunity.In practical terms, this often means theability to swallow prey as large as orlarger than oneself in a single gulp. Thesoft flesh of deep-sea fishes helps here,as it is easier to stretch. Of course, it alsomakes it easier to cut open a fish to res-cue a swallowed comrade, but since theflesh is so soft, one would definitely dothe same amount of damage to thetrapped PC that he would cause to thefish when hestarts slicing

Anyone trying to rescue a swallowedcompanion by cutting open the offend-ing fish must roll as though he wereactively attacking said companionwhenever he damages the fish. Notethat the resulting blood in the water iscertain to draw more predators with itsscent.

Octo-jellyCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Ocean depthsFREQUENCY: UncommonORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: CarnivoreINTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:

Animal (1)

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1-2ARMOR CLASS: 10MOVEMENT: 3, Swim 9HIT DICE: 3, Swim 9THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10SPECIAL ATTACKS: SmotheringSPECIAL DEFENSES: Luminous cloud,MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: Large (9’

5’ across)long,

MORALE:XP VALUE:

Fearless (19)4,000

This creature is a bell-shaped octopuswith a pair of swimming fins protrudingfrom its body. Along with its relative thatfollows shortly, its tentacles seem to beshort, as little more than the tips are notconnected by a form of webbing. It isthe only blind octopus known, usingsenses such as touch to pinpoint its prey.It can change color in an instant, but thelack of light in the depths means thatcamouflage is not an issue.

Combat: Moving in the manner of ajellyfish, the octo-jelly’s way of capturing

prey is to position itself directly aboveits intended victim and then drop

down, enfolding it completely inits tentacle webbing. It has

two attacks: a bite with itshorny beak that inflicts

1d10 hp

44 NOVEMBER 1996

damage and smothering in its clammymass, which causes another 1d6 hpdamage. A trapped victim can free him-self with a Bending Bars roll (at -1).Because it is so soft (hence the name), allattacks directed at it cause full damageto anyone trapped inside its mass.Although fragile, it has virtuallyunshakeable morale, like all deep-seacreatures, for the starkly simple reasonthat it cannot afford cowardice; it mustattack and devour whatever it comesacross, as food is hard to find.

When attacked by a stronger foe, theocto-jelly can release a luminous cloudof glowing blue-green particles. Anyonecaught in this cloud (20’ high by 30’wide by 30’ long) is blinded for one fullturn, losing all initiative and defendingagainst any attacks at a -2 penalty. Anocto-jelly does not consider retreat untilit has lost 75% of its hit points; underabsolutely no other circumstances will iteven consider retreat.

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Ocean depthsHide

FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:

Very rare

ACTIVITY CYCLE:Solitary

DIET:AnyCarnivore

INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:

Animal (1)N i l

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS: 1MOVEMENT: 3, Swim 12HIT DICE: 8THAC0: 13NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-12SPECIAL ATTACKS: Cold generationSPECIAL DEFENSES: Luminous cloud,

immunity tocold

MAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: Huge (20’

across)MORALE: Elite (20)XP VALUE: 3,000

The hide is a bottom-dwelling octopus

Habitat/Society: These creatures aresolitary, due largely to the virtual impos-sibility of finding food for even a smallgathering in the ocean depths. No morethan two (a male and a female) will everbe found together, and then only duringthe mating season. When the creature’seggs hatch, the young live for a shorttime within the mother’s protective ten-tacle bell, but they soon disperse insearch of food.

of enormous size, with comparativelyshort tentacles. In basic appearance, itresembles a dirty floor mop or an openedumbrella, and in general is quite a dis-gusting sight. It can be of any color,changing hues frequently.

Ecology: The octo-jelly eats any ani-mal it has a chance of killing, just like allother forms of deep-sea life. In return, itis eaten by anything that can catch andkill it, meaning virtually all of its neigh-bors; there are few clear-cut distinctions between

Combat: The hide will try to get closeenough to a victim to bite it, its beakinflicting 2-12 hp damage. In order todisable a target so it can close in for thekill, it generates a cone of cold 10’ wideand 30’ long, which causes 3d6 hpdamage.2 As a side effect, it is immuneto all cold-based attacks, but if the battlegoes against it anyway, and it losesthree-quarters of its hit points, it can

cover its retreat withthe same

predator and prey in the s o r t o focean depths. Because it b l inding

is softer than octopi that cloud thelive near the surface, its octo-jellyhide is useless for produces.commercial T h e

dimensionsposes. It is edible, how-ever, and if its of this creature screen” particles can be collect-ed, they can be used as an ingredient inspell ink when penning scrolls withspells such as light, continual light andthe various prismatic spells. An octo-jellycarries enough particles to provide suffi-cient ink for one written spell.

cloud, though, are 40’high by 60’ wide by 60’ long.

Habitat/Society: These creatures aresolitary, due to the virtual impossibilityof the deep sea providing enough foodfor more than one in a small area. Themating season is brief, and the eggs are

abandoned as soon as they are laid.Ecology: The hide has the same uses

to both Man and Nature as the octo-jelly. In the natural world, it preys onboth swimmers and bottom-crawlers,while its ink has the same value as ascroll-ink ingredient.

GulperCLIMATE/TERRAIN: Ocean depthsFREQUENCY: UncommonORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:

Solitary

DIET:AnyCarnivore


Animal (1)N i l

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING:ARMOR CLASS: 1MOVEMENT: Swim 15HIT DICE: 9THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8SPECIAL ATTACKS: Constriction,

swallow wholeSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardMORALE:MORALE:

L (12’ long)Elite (20)

XP VALUE: 3,000The gulper variety of fish consists of

little more than a huge mouth, followingby a trailing tail that seems to stretch onforever. This mouth is so huge that itenables the fish to swallow prey severaltimes larger than itself; one species ofgulper on Earth is known as the “pelicaneel”. Gulpers on Earth range in size from6” (not counting the tail) to 6’, but fanta-sy-world denizens can get up to 12’ inlength. These creatures have small eyes,set on top of their heads to catch theleast little bit of sunlight that filters downfrom the surface, but they rely almostsolely on their lateral lines to feel theapproach of prey. Some species evenhave an electric light at the tip of the tail,apparently to attract potential victims.

Combat: The gulper’s biting attack,which causes 2d8 hp damage, is inflictedonly once on any prey it catches. Afterthat, the victim has been swallowedwhole, and the creature’s teeth are nowreduced to a supportive role3, holdingthe prey in place so it can’t get away.Now the damage is caused by thegulper’s digestive juices, which inflict 1d8hp damage per turn until the prey is

2. It’s time for the big surprise of this listing. “Hide” is the name of a sea monster mentioned in the maritime folklore of the nation of Chile here on Earth, and acreature answering its description has been mentioned by a diver in the modern era. The witness was quite deep, observing a shark, when he noticed that the waterwas becoming icy cold. Even as he watched, a great shapeless mass came up out of the depths and wrapped itself around the shark, which seemed unable to move.It was not until after the thing sank back down with its prey that the diver dared to move. Yes, this is a real report on a real animal, and I’m not even making up thefantasy-sounding attack form of a cold “breath weapon.” Deep-sea diving, anyone?

3. Oh, yes, one more little thing about gulpers and the other fish discussed in this article. Their teeth are slanted for holding prey in place. They do this so well thatthey literally cannot let go! Once a victim has been swallowed whole, it is literally a case of “digest or die”. If the gulper chokes on its prey, it chokes, but it cannot letgo. On Earth, a fair number of deep-sea fish were discovered when they floated belly-up to the surface after choking on an intended meal.

DRAGON #235 45

either digested orreleased. Release canbe tricky, though, as cuttingthrough the gulpers soft fleshmeans inflicting an equal amount ofdamage of the cutter’s trapped comrade. Both fantasy and real-worldgulpers may use their tails forpurposes of constriction,inflicting 1d6 hp damageper round to the hapless vic-tim. In general, any creaturesmaller than size G maystrangled by a 12’ gulper,the whiplike tail takes up soits length.

Habitat/Society: These creaturesare solitary, and don’t havebrains for a rich social life anway. A 10” “pelican eel” fromEarth has a brain case only aquarter-inch in length. Theirreproductive cycle isunknown, but it is possiblethat as is the case withother fish, one of the par-ents may shelter the new-born young in its mouth fora time. In this case, “sur-vival of the fittest” meansknowing enough to leave homehunger overrides parental urges.

Ecology: Gulpers will eat anything. Inreturn, they are edible, with literally del-icate flesh. In addition, some enterpris-ing magical artificers have used theirskin in the construction of — what else?- a bag of holding.

Angler Fish

hook (not in the real-world creatures).These bloated-looking things are clumsy

swimmers, relying on their lures tocause prey to come to them.

Surface-dwellers have an illi-cium (the “fishing line,” actu-

ally the modified first ray ofthe dorsal fin) that looks like aworm or similar creature; with

deep-sea anglers, the illiciumis luminous. Some anglers

don’t have an illicium,relying instead on aluminous growth pro-truding from the roofor palate of the mouth.

Imaginative DMs in afantasy world full ofhuman and demihumanadventurers can modifythese growths toresemble anf rom mounds o fsunken treasure to a

beautiful mermaid,both lying in a “cavern” chockfull of “stalac-

tites” and “stalag-es.” Most anglers

are no bigger than aman’s fist, though one surface-

dwelling type is large enough to swallowducks and geese and does so.

Combat: Combat for the angler fishgenerally consists of decoying the victimclose enough to be attacked, with theteeth getting in one good bite (2d8 hpdamage) and then simply holding the vic-tim in place to be digested (1 d8 hp dam-

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Ocean depthsFREQUENCY: UncommonORGANIZATION: SolitaryACTIVITY CYCLE: AnyDIET: CarnivoreINTELLIGENCE: Animal (1)TREASURE:ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1ARMOR CLASS: 8MOVEMENT: Swim 12HIT DICE: 8THAC0: 13NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d8 or (some

species only) 1d4

age per round). Some anglers actuallyhave one or more hooks at the end ofthe illicium. In real life, they just look likehooks, without doing anything useful, butin a fantasy ocean, they can be used tograpple a victim (1d4 hp damage) and

draw him down to the mouth. Because

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Swallow wholeSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: L (8’ long)MORALE: Elite (19)XP VALUE: 1,400

The angler fish is, as its name implies,a fish that hunts by means of a natural“fishing line,” sometimes even with a

of the anglerfish’s poor AC, it is

relatively easy for stabbingweapons to penetrate it (and do as muchdamage to the victim as to his attacker).The fish’s teeth curve inward, so it can’t

46 NOVEMBER 1996

inward, so it can’t even think about lettinggo, no matter how much those guys withtridents and daggers may make it wish itcould. Swallowing prey is the ultimate actof commitment.

Habitat/Society: Oddly enough, inmost species of angler fish, only thefemales do the hunting. The male, whois only a fraction of the female’s size,clings lampreylike to her body, living offher as a parasite. Actually, this is a ratherlogical thing to do; because of the dark-ness of the ocean depths and the factthat angler fish are few and far between,this system ensures that every fish willalways have a mate on hand whenbreeding season comes around. Whathappens to the young is not known.

with the growth serving as a sort ofantenna to detect movement in thewater. Some fantasy fish, however, mayalso use it as a weapon (see below). Thesmallest viperfish, also known as stomi-atoids, are about an inch and a half inlength, while the largest can get up to6’, making them true giants of theocean depths. In a fantasy sea, stomia-toids grow up to 20’ in length.

Combat: Like all other fish of thedepths, stomiatoids get in one good biteat the start of the attack (1d20 hp dam-age) and then swallow their prey whole,

Ecology: The angler fish is thesame generic type of predatorthat all hunters of the deepare. Its flesh is edible, thoughnot a gourmet’s delight byhuman standards.

ViperfishCLIMATE/TERRAIN:Ocean depthsFREQUENCY:Uncommon

w i t ht h e

t e e t hn o w

ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:

Solitary

DIET:AnyCarnivore


Animal (1)N i l

ALIGNMENT: Neutral

NO. APPEARING: 1-2ARMOR CLASS: 7MOVEMENT: Swim 18HIT DICE: 10THAC0: 11NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1 d20 or (some

species only)1d8

SPECIAL ATTACKS: Swallow wholeSPECIAL DEFENSES: NilMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE:MORALE:

Huge (20’long)Elite (20)

XP VALUE: 5,000The viperfish are among the most

vicious inhabitants of the ocean depths,being more active cruisers after preythan mere passive toothed traps waitingfor something to come within reach.They have lights for vision as well asattracting prey, often having doublerows of lights on their torsos like port-holes on an ocean liner. Prey luresinclude luminous patches directly insidethe creature’s mouth. From a viperfish’schin protrudes one or more branch- orwhiplike growths. In all species, this isan extension of the lateral line senses,

serving as nomore than bars in a cage to keep the vic-tim from escaping. They also keep theviperfish from letting its prey go if it real-izes it is too much for it, as they slantbackwards. If the viperfish takes too biga mouthful, then that’s just too bad for it,as well as for its prey. Some fantasy spec-imens use their whiplike chin growths asa sort of tentacle, causing 1d8 hp stran-gling damage. Swallowed victims take1d8 hp damage from the viperfish’sstomach acids until they are gone, oneway or another. Would-be rescuers ofswallowed prey may also do damagewhen they try to cut their friend out, theirweapons doing full damage to the victim after cutting through his captor’s softskin.

Habitat/Society: The stomiatoids asa group are solitary creatures, only com-ing together briefly for the mating sea-son, and abandoning their young assoon as the eggs are laid.

Ecology: As active hunters, viperfishhave more of an impact on the deep-seaecology than those predators who sim-ply sit around waiting for prey to cometo them. They also have edible, if non-tasty, flesh.

DRAGON #235 47

Death MinnowCLIMATE/TERRAIN:FREQUENCY:ORGANIZATION:ACTIVITY CYCLE:DIET:INTELLIGENCE:TREASURE:ALIGNMENT:

Ocean depthsVery rareSolitaryAnyCarnivoreAnimal (1)N i lNeutral

NO. APPEARING: 1-2ARMOR CLASS: 1 0MOVEMENT: Swim 22HIT DICE: 6THAC0: 15NO. OF ATTACKS: 1DAMAGE/ATTACK: 0SPECIAL ATTACKS: Swallow whole,magicSPECIAL DEFENSES: High agilityMAGIC RESISTANCE: StandardSIZE: T to L (2” to 8’)MORALE: Elite (20)XP VALUE: 2,000

The death minnow is a bright orangefish only 2” in length (and the only com-pletely magical invention in this article).It is a magical extrapolation of the nor-mal fishes of the ocean depths, createdby some powerful, but unknown under-sea sorcerers. (Aboleth? Sahuagin? Theaquatic elf version of the drow? Who

knows?) A potent guardian of undersealairs and treasure troves, this critter isguaranteed to drive your players crazy.It relies on lateral lines to detect its prey.

Combat: The death minnow’s cre-ators — whoever they were — incorpo-rated into the fish an innate magicalability equivalent to the reversiblespell enlarge/reduce. Simplyput, this little fish canswim up to a crea-ture of Size M orsmaller, looking as

from his captor’s digestive juices until heeither dies or is rescued. As always, strik-ing weapons do full damage to the vic-tim as well as their intended target.However, even bloated with prey, the

death minnow caneasily dodge most

blows. Once the fishis slain (an ingrainedmagical instinct pre-vents it from releas-

its prey under any circumstances),

innocuous as canbe, then suddenly enlarge itself to thesize of a giant angler fish, swallow thesurprised victim with a single gulp, andthen reduce both itself and the victim tominute size again. If no one else in theparty is looking in the victim’s directionat the time (remember, there is appar-ently nothing large enough to be athreat in the vicinity), then the target willseem to have simply disappeared with-out a trace.

the victim instantly returns to normalsize. And if any quick-witted mages arepresent in the party, casting dispel magicon the death minnow will cause it togrow back to its “monster size” of 8’,making it a far easier target.

The act of swallowing itself causes nodamage, as the victim is drawn into thefish’s mouth by suction. Once inside,however, he suffers 1d6 hp damage

Habitat/Society: There are no “wild”populations of death minnows. These aremagical guard beasts, nothing more, andas they are created magically, they donot need to breed. In fact, it is uncertain ifthey even have male and female sexes.

Ecology: The death minnow servesno role in a natural ecology, except toensure that the immediate vicinityaround the spot it is set to guard doesn’thave any. If the party can kill one, itsblood may be used as an ingredient inthe ink used for penning enlarge orreduce spells on scrolls. If, instead, some-one wants to return the swallowingfavor by eating it, it tastes remarkablylike kippered herring.

I hope you enjoy the above sea mon-sters. When encountered in their naturalhabitat, they can make any underwaterquest an adventure to remember.

BibliographyAbyss; C.P. Idyll; Thomas Y. Crowell

Company; 201 Park Ave. South, NewYork, NY 10003; 1964, 1971 (revisededition).

I gained virtually all my factual infor-mation from this book, which is a trea-sure house of facts about the oceandepths. Read it if you can, especially ifyou’re a DM; there are enough weirdcreatures in this book for several articlesthe size of this one.

There was something fishy about thebiographical sketch Gregory W. Detwilersent us (especially the part about the voyageon the Calypso), so we’ve decided to sayonly that we consider this article quite acatch.

48 NOVEMBER 1996

Seagoing sorcery for nautical adventuresron-Leg Bruce was a corsair, one of the best to prowl the seas. Hewas a member of a loose confederation of pirates, privateers,

corsairs, and brigands held together by the will and prowess of thePirate Queen Lorelee.

Iron-leg was pleased. His ship, the Black Dragon, had stumbledupon the Golden Lion, a great elven galleon. Masked by a powerfulillusion, his ship followed close behind the Lion.

“Helm,” Iron-leg said. “Bring us alongside!”His crew scurried up the rigging to let out more sail. They made no

noise. They were professionals.Iron-leg whispered to his first mate. “Have the spellslingers get to

their posts. We’ll drop the illusion as we pull alongside.”In a moment, Iron-leg could see the faces of the elves on the deck

of the galleon. He raised his hand in a signal.His gigantic black galleon, with gray sails and a flag as black as the

Underdark, shimmered into existence beside the elven ship.Even as the elven faces registered shock, Iron-leg’s wizards began

to chant.The battle was on.

Whether pirates, merchants, or explorers, those riding thehigh seas are in no less need of magical spells than those trav-eling the mountains or plains. Here, then, is a collection of spellsespecially suited for those at home on the sea — no matter whattheir calling may be.

First-level spellsFoul RiggingAlterationReversibleRange: 100 yds. + 10 yds. per levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting time: 3

When this spell is cast, the rigging of the affected shipbecomes tangled, jumbled, and otherwise unmanageable. Ingame terms, the ship is slowed by one mile per hour per levelof the caster, to a maximum penalty of one-half its movement.The rigging takes two hours per level of the caster to unfoul.The reversal of this spell, unfoul rigging, has no save and coun-ters this effect.

The material components are a bit of canvas and twinewrapped in a tightly knotted ball.

Land callDivinationRange: SpecialComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 10Area of effect: Caster’s shipSave: None

By means of this spell, the caster knows the location of thevessel’s port of call (or any other port from which he has earth),no matter where the ship is or what the weather and light con-ditions are. This spell is especially useful in foul weather orwhen sailing with no instruments. The material component forthe spell is a pinch of earth from the chosen port.

MapAlterationRange: 1’Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 day per levelCasting time: 15Area of effect: SpecialSave: None

This spell animates mapping tools so that theymap any area within sight of the caster.

Islands, reefs, shoals, and coastline are all

51

Area of effect: SpecialSave: Negates

DRAGON #235

diligently recorded by these animatedinstruments. In open ocean, the toolschart a ship’s route. This spell is extreme-ly useful on voyages of exploration.

The material components are a set ofinks, charts, blank paper, pens, com-passes, rulers, and other mapping instru-ments of at least 750 gp total value.These may be re-used.

True CompassDivinationRange: 0Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 roundCasting time: 10Area of effect: One ship or the casterSave: None

With this spell, the caster gains aninstant and exact knowledge of hisheading (e.g., north, south, south bysouthwest, etc.). The spell gives no otherinformation. It may also be used on land.

The material component of this spell isa small piece of lodestone and a needle.

Second-level spellsEagle EyesAlterationRange: TouchComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 hour per levelCasting Time: 4Area of effect: One creatureSave: None

This spell gives the recipient an espe-cially keen distance vision, effectivelydoubling the range at which he can seethings, as well as enhancing the detailsthat he can make out. The effect can bedisorienting at first, and the recipientmust make an Intelligence check orbecome dizzy and confused for 1d10minutes.

The material components are theeyes of a keen-sighted animal.

Fantar�s shoalAlteration, EvocationRange: 100 yds.Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 hour + 10 minutes per levelCasting Time: 5Area of effect: One shipSave: Negates

This spell creates a magical barrierjust under the ocean’s surface. Shipsstriking the barrier become grounded asif on a shoal or shallow. It causes nostructural damage but effectively arrestsmovement for the duration of the spellunless the ship’s navigator or captainmakes an effective save vs. spell. The

caster’s level determines the size of theship that can be affected:

Level Ship1-3 raft, canoe, small row boat4-6 row boat, outrigger, small

long boat7-9 long boat, small barge

10-12 large barge, fishing vessel13-15 small ship16-18 medium-sized ship19-21 large ship, galleon

The material components are a pieceof coral valued at least 100 gp and a bitof sand from a shoal. They are con-sumed with the casting of this spell.

Flame ResistanceAbjurationRange: 20 yds.Components: V,SDuration: 1 day + 1 hour per levelCasting time: 10Area of effect: One shipSave: None

This spell renders one ship resistant tonormal and magical flame. Sails, rigging,and wood are essentially immune to nor-mal, non-magical flames and sparks forthe duration of the spell. Against espe-cially intense or magical flames, the shipreceives a saving throw bonus of +1 forevery 3 levels of the caster. Flames causehalf the damage as normal and spreadhalf as quickly. (Note that this protectionaffects only the ship itself and does notextend to the crew or cargo.)

Leomund�s Many Life PreserversAbjurationRange: 100 yds.Components: V,SDuration: 1 day per levelCasting Time: 3Area of effect: SpecialSave: None

This spell creates one circular buoy-ant ring of force for each level of thecaster. Each ring has sufficient buoyancyto keep two unarmored man-sized crea-tures afloat for the duration of the spell.The rings are virtually indestructible andcannot be harmed in any way short ofdispel magic or disintegrate spells, or simi-lar methods.

Morning GloryEvocationRange: 50 yds. + 10 yds. per levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 3Area of effect: SpecialSave: Half

This spell creates a cone of flamingsparks that arc outward from the caster’shands starting 10’ wide at the base ofthe arc and ending with a 50’-wide apex.The sparks range in color from red towhite. Creatures in the fan receive nodirect damage but must save or haveany combustible clothing or gear catchfire. Any ship caught within the arc suf-fers 1 point of structural damage perthree levels of the caster, up to a maxi-mum of 5 points of structural damage.Thus, a 9th-level mage would cause 3points of structural damage. Damage isfrom drying out the hull or rigging, caus-ing snapping or fraying, or from smallfires caused by the sparks. If the shipmakes a successful saving throw, it suf-fers only half damage.

The material component is a handfulof iron filings.

Plug LeakAlterationRange: 10’Components: V,SDuration: 2 hours + 1 turn per levelCasting Time: 2Area of effect: SpecialSave: None

This spell creates invisible walls offorce that plug small leaks in a ship’s hull,shore up cracks and splits, and otherwisetemporarily repair similar structural dam-age. One point of hull damage for everytwo levels of the caster can be repaired inthis way to a maximum of 10 hull points.These force barriers eventually weakenand break but allow time for properrepairs to be conducted. This spell is mostcommonly used during battle, whenthere isn’t time to effect proper repairs.

Third-level spellsBuoyancyAlterationRange: 150 yds.Components: V,SDuration: 1 hour + 1 turn per levelCasting Time: 4Area of effect: One creature per levelSave: Negates

This spell causes affected creatures tofloat to the surface of the water as ifthey were buoyant. Even the most heav-ily armored knight can thus be suspend-ed on the surface. Similarly, underwatercreatures can be forced to surface in thisway. The spell does not affect creaturesmore than twice the size of the averageman. It affects only living things.Unwilling creatures can save vs. spell toavoid the effect.

52 NOVEMBER 1996

Fantar�s ReefAlteration, EvocationRange: 200 yds. + 10 yds. per levelComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 hour + 1 turn per levelCasting Time: 5Area of effect: One ship

This spell is a more powerful versionof Fantar’s shoal. It creates a reef-like

Save: Special

construct of magical force underneaththe ocean’s surface. Any ship strikingthis magical barrier sustains 1d4+1points of hull damage per level of thecaster. The ship can save vs. spell forhalf damage. Unless the ship’s navigatormakes a successful navigation check,the ship has “run aground” for the dura-tion of the spell. The caster’s level deter-mines the size of the ship that can beaffected:

Level Ship1-3 raft, canoe, small row boat4-6 row boat, outrigger, small

long boat7-9 long boat, small barge

10-12 large barge, fishing vessel13-15 small ship16-18 medium-sized ship19-21 large ship, galleon

The barrier is invisible and indestruc-tible, but a dispel magic spell negates it.

The material component for this spellis a piece of coral of at least 500 gpvalue.

Leomund�s LifeboatAbjurationRange: 20 yds.Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 day per levelCasting time: 5Area of effect: SpecialSave: None

This spell creates a magically sus-tained life boat large enough to hold upto 10 humans or human-sized creatures.It has a cover and a sail, and it providesshelter and warmth. It cannot be sunk orcapsized through normal means. Theboats stores provide food and watersufficient to sustain its passengers forthe duration of the spell. The spell maybe renewed by further castings before itexpires. It moves at a constant rate of 10miles per hour.

The material component of this spellis a miniature replica of the boat, madefrom the finest materials of no less then1,000 gp value.

Mentap�s MineEvocation

Area of effect: Special

Range: 30 yds. + 10 yds. per level

Save: Half

Components: V,S,MDuration: InstantaneousCasting Time: 3

This spell creates a small ovoid sphereto appear on the hull of the vessel inquestion. The sphere is dark blue andblends in with the water. It is about 6” indiameter. It cannot be removed from theship’s hull by normal means. After a timespecified by the caster, the sphere deto-nates with a large explosive force. Anycreature within 30’ of the blast suffers1d6 hp damage per level of the caster;save vs. spell for half. The ship sustains 1point of structural damage per level of thecaster (save vs. spell for half) and may beset on fire. The caster can have the chargedetonate up to half an hour plus oneminute per level after the charge is placed.A thief who makes a successful RemoveTraps check can disarm the sphere.

The material component for this spellis a small wad of sulfur and pitch placedinside a sealed steel tube.

Narcomb�s Battened HatchesAlteration, AbjurationRange: 10 yds.Components: V,SDuration: 1 hour per levelCasting Time: 8Area of effect: One shipSave: None

This spell causes all the hatches,doors, and windows on a ship to closetightly. If these have locks or seals, theybolt themselves in place. A magicalwatertight seal comes into being aroundall the hatches. No force of wind orwave can burst the hatches; however,they are not wizard locked; unless other-wise locked or barred, intelligent crea-tures can still open and close the doorsnormally. This does not affect the dura-tion of the spell.

Fourth-level spellsAmgig�s RowersAlteration, ConjurationRange: 20’Components: V,SDuration: 1 hour per levelCasting time: 6Area of effect: One shipSave: None

This spell creates banks of magicalglowing oars on the sides of a vessel that


DRAGON #235 53

row with their own power. For each levelof the mage, the oars increase the ves-sel’s movement by one mile per hour, upto double the normal movement rate. Ifthe mage maintains concentration onthis spell, he can direct the speed anddirection of the vessel with the oars; oth-erwise the ship goes straight forward atits maximum movement rate.

The oars are magical constructs.Although they can be dispelled, they arenot harmed by normal means.

Fifth-level spellsCall WindAlteration, ConjurationReversibleRange: 0Components: V,SDuration: 1 day + one hour per levelCasting Time: 10Area of effect: SpecialSave: Negates

This spell has two effects. The firstincreases the force of the prevailingwind by one factor for every 4 levels ofthe caster. Thus, a calm can become alight breeze or a brisk wind. The castercan choose how much of an increase hedesires. It is important to note that thisaffects only the vessel in question; otherships in the area are not affected.

Alternatively, the caster can changethe direction of the wind for one vessel.He can affect the wind’s vector by 5’ perlevel. The navigator of a ship who wouldnot desire to be affected by this windmust save vs. spell to avoid the effect.

The reverse of this spell, calm wind,reduces the ferocity of the wind inrespect to a vessel.

IronsideAlterationRange: TouchComponents: V,S,MDuration: 1 turn +1 round per levelCasting Time: 6Area of effect: One vesselSaving throw: None

This spell increases the strength of therecipient vessel’s hull. Saving throws vs.crushing blow are made against iron.Attacks against the ship are made againstAC 0. Note that this spell in no wayaffects the flammability of the vessel, itonly operates in terms of durability. In allother respects, it still has the same prop-erties of its constituent material.

The material component for this spellis a bit of ironwood.

Otiluke�s ScreenAbjurationRange: 10 yds.Components: V,SDuration: 1 turn + 1 round per levelCasting Time: 6Area of effect: One vessel (or a sphere

of 10 yds., + 1 yd. per levelradius)

Save: NoneThis spell creates an invisible screen

of energy that surrounds the ship, evenbelow the waterline. Solid objects -water, projectiles, fish, etc. - can passfreely through the screen, while anymagical energy that strikes the screen(firebaIl, lightning bolt, etc.) is absorbedand dissipated. The screen is able toabsorb 1d8 hp damage per level of thecaster before being disrupted. (Dividethis number by 10 and round up todetermine the number of hull points thescreen can absorb.) If cast somewhereother then on a ship, e.g., on land, thescreen is immobile but has virtually thesame affects.

Repair BreechAlteration, ConjurationRange: 20’Components: V,S,MDuration: instantaneousCasting Time: 6Area of effect: One vesselSave: None

This spell causes hull and other dam-age to regenerate. The caster can repair1d6+1 point of hull damage per level.The effect is nearly instantaneous and ispermanent; it cannot be dispelled.

The material components for thisspell are a tiny set of shipwright’s toolsworth at least 500 gp.

Seventh-level spellSpectral NavigatorConjuration, SummoningRange: 10’Components: V,S,MDuration: 1 hour per levelCasting time: 10Area of effect: SpecialSave: None

This spell creates a ghostly, quasi-tangible navigator who will, for theduration of the spell, steer the ship. Thenavigator unerringly avoids all naturalobstacles, if possible, and always takesthe course most likely to allow a vesselto reach port safely.

The material components of this spellare a tiny golden ship’s wheel and a chartwith the ship’s position at the time of cast-ing and the desired destination plotted.

Eighth-level spellRaise VesselAlterationReversibleRange: 20’Components: V,SDuration: 1 hour per levelCasting Time: 9Area of effect: One vesselSave: Negates

This spell causes one sunken vesselto be raised intact to the surface of thesea. If a vessel is sinking or only partiallysubmerged it is raised and held afloat bythe power of this spell as well. The rever-sal of this spell, sink vessel (the effect ofwhich is permanent), causes the recipientvessel to sink below the waves in 2d4rounds. The ship’s captain is allowed asave vs. spell to avoid this effect.

Brian Dunnell lives in Maine, somewherenear a lighthouse, we like to think.

56 NOVEMBER 1996

Once again, we biblio-philes of the DRAGON®Magazine staff share our recom-mendations of the best bookswe’ve read (or re-read) recently.Would you like to recommend one tous? Write to “Bookwyrms, ” DRAGON

Magazine, 201 Sheridan SpringsRoad, Lake Geneva, WI 53147.

Alvin Journeyman

A Game of Thronesby George R.R. Martin

Bantam Spectra $21.95I figure life is too

short to drink badbeer or read poor

fantasy novels.You can under-stand why I’m

always reluctantto try the “next big fan-

tasy trilogy.”George R.R. Martin’s name on

the cover of A Game of Thrones gave

by Orson Scott Card$6.99

I have been a fanof The Tales of Alvin

Maker since itsdebut volume,

Seventh Son, waspublished back inthe late eighties.

Card’s alternate vision of afrontier America where hexes,knacks, and folklore are

as real as science, industrialization, anddemocracy never ceases to entertain mewith its quaint backwoods wisdom andparallel versions of figures from historylike William Henry Harrison andTecumseh.

The fourth and latest volume in theseries (following Prentice Alvin) continuesthe tale of Alvin as he enters the jour-neyman stage of his career as a smithand shaman of sorts. His long-term goalof building a Crystal City and savingAmerica from the clutches of the dread-ed Unmaker faces another obstacle inthe form of allegations that threatenboth his good name and his freedom.

Card fuses the best of Mark Twainwith Peter Beagle to tell his tale in theproper voice. The only fault is this other-wise enchanting tour-de-force of magi-cal Americana is the long wait betweenvolumes in the series. I hope the nextone arrives soon. B.T.

The Demolished ManAlfred Bester

V i n t a g e $11.00When we heard that

Alfred Bester’s twomost famous novels

were to be re-released this year,

Pierce and I quarreledover who would recom-

mend them. We came to a com-promise, but immediately after, the

quarrel resumed, this time over whichbook is the better. I pick The DemolishedMan.

Ben Reich is one of the world’s mostpowerful and wealthy men, eventhough he is not one of the gifted fewwho have developed telepathy. Reich isalso a ruthless man, willing to kill a rival,knowing that the Espers of the policeforce can detect murderous intent evenbefore a crime occurs. Nothing detersReich, however, and soon he’s locked ina deadly struggle with Lincoln Powell,Police Prefect and 1st-Class Esper.

The Demolished Man excels as sciencefiction because it takes a single SFpremise and explores its effects on the

me hope. (Even he jokes that he has theright middle initials to succeed Tolkien.)Frankly, the first fifty pages worried me.I can’t stand seeing common words like“Sir” or “master” transformed into “Ser” or“maester” simply to make them seemotherworldly — especially in a story withmany obvious real-world analogs. Earlycoincidence and cliché, and characterswho seemed too obviously good or evilnearly made me set the book aside.

Fortunately, A Game of Thrones soonemploys the cliches of fantasy fiction tofresh effect rather than relying, uponthem as a crutch. Martin makes vital fig-ures of what seem at first to be stockcharacters, and even those who fallneatly into categories are genuinelybeautiful heroes or truly despicable vil-lains. His writing is good, but his story-telling is a killer. Martin can make youmourn, love, wonder, and hate.

This is the one for fantasy novel snobswho wanted to enjoy the big trilogies butwere spoiled on better writers. A Game ofThrones is only the first book of A Song ofFire and Ice, yet already it promises toexceed all of the epic fantasy series since. . . You’re not going to make me say it,

are you? D.G.

setting and characters of an intensedrama. Sure, you have yourrocket ships and zapgunsin the background, but theimportant thing is always theway that telepathy affects theconflict between two extraordi-nary men.

The Gridby Philip KerrWarner Books $21.95

When we think ofdangerous places, we

Also notable is Alfred Bester’sinventive use of language. It is neverso obtrusive as to detract from thestory. It’s smart, clever, and integral tothe narrative. Maybe he shows offsometimes, but he never just shows off.The Demolished Man is superlative writ-ing and great science fiction.

used to conjureimages of haunted

castles and trap-infested dun-

geons. Thenalong comes

MichaelCrichton

with a littlePR from Steven

Spielberg), and voilá, thedinosaur amusement park of

DRAGON #235 59

tomorrow takes the forefront. Well,Philip Kerr does him one better inhis latest novel, The Grid.Unlike Jurassic Park, whereyou had to travel manymiles to get there, thisnew dangerous place canexist right next door inmajor city in the U.S.

The Grid's antagonist is

So You Want to Be a WizardDiane Duane

$6.00So You Want to Be a Wizard, firstpublished in 1983, is an excitingadventure that’s also a lot of fun.

The background is so rich andhints at so many things not

explained that it begs for a

“smart building,” that is, one thatis fully automated and monitoredby an ultra-sophisticated computerwho manifests malevolent

sequel.So You Want to Be a

Wizard begins with a girl, Nita,running from bullies. She hides in the

toward a group of trapped executivesduring its early days on line. What Kerrhas so successfully wrought is a new riffon the bad computer monster themethat caters to all of our worst fears oftechnology, while also entertaining uswith great new traps and perils that canlurk right down the hall in the nearestelevator, lavatory, or swimming pool.

public library and finds a special bookbehind some others. This is a step-by-step, how-to manual on becoming a wiz-ard. Nita takes the book home andbegins to study. Soon she encountersKit, another budding young wizard, andtogether conjure up a white hole namedFred by accident. Or was it an accident?

The Grid is a modern dungeon crawlof great suspense that will both amuseyou and thrill you. It is probably the bestthriller of its kind since, well, JurassicPark, and that is high praise indeed. B.T.

Now You See It . . .by Richard Matheson

Tor $5.99Richard Matheson has

always been one of myfavorite authors. I AmLegend is a classic vampire novel, Hell

House is a classichaunted housenovel, and many

of his short stories

Fred is the bearer of a grave message.The Book of Night with Moon, the mostimportant book in all of the universes, ismissing. Through several misadventures,the threesome learn the whereabouts ofthe book, and together they seek to res-cue it. They travel to an alternateManhattan inhabited almost entirely bymalevolent machines. Beset by perytons,evil taxi cabs and a forgetful dragon,Nita, Kit, and Fred are forced to improvetheir magic skills in order to survive.

So You Want to Be a Wizard leaves thereader satisfied with the adventure’sconclusion but wanting to know moreabout the system of magic, the otherwizards, and the alternate universes.This is a book to be enjoyed by readersof any age. P.W.

were made into classic The StarsTwilight Zone episodes. His

My Destination

new novel, Now You See It. . . has all the makings ofbecoming a classicmagic novel.

The magic thatMatheson uses, however,is not of the wizardly sortbut rather more closely thatof legerdemain. His main char-acter is not in the Merlin tradition but rather more akin toDavid Copperfield or Doug

$11.00The Stars My Destinationgrabbed me by the scruff of myneck and shook me like a terri-er shakes a rat. I couldn’t get

loose, and I didn’t want to.When I first read this

novel 25 years ago, Ididn’t completely under-

stand it, but I knew itwas good. Now, reread-

ing it, I am in awe. Well-writ-Henning, for he is indeed a mortalperformer of illusionary tricks andslight of hand, and possibly a murderer.What follows is not so much a whodunitbut a whodunit-or-did-he mystery ofdeadly illusions and retribution gamesthat rivals Sleuth and And Then There WereNone in its inventiveness. B.T.

ten and fast paced, The Stars MyDestination is a splendid book.A war has erupted between the inner

colonies and the outer colonies. AnEarth ship, the Nomad is destroyed. Alone survivor, Culley Foyle, lives in aship’s locker, venturing out when he

must to scavenge oxygen and food fromthe wreckage. He hopes for rescue.Finally, another ship arrives. Culley sig-nals them. This other ship, the Vorga,ignores the signals and leaves. Nowonly the hope for vengeance keepsGulley alive.

In a world where visualizing a placetransports you there by jaunting (dis-tances of 1,000 miles or less), GulleyFoyle, the focus, is a tiger-faced demon.He seeks revenge and savages anyonewho stands in his way. Like a roguetiger, sometimes he destroys peoplewho are merely in the wrong place atthe wrong time.

This novel grows in intensity like atornado, whirling and twisting, relent-less. You hate Gulley, but you can’t stopreading. You need to know what willhappen next. Eventually, Gulley beginsto learn what it is to be human. Kickingand screaming, he learns. He’s still thetiger, but what a tiger! Even those whohate him are held in his thrall.

Transformation, transmogrification,perhaps, that’s part of what this is allabout. Here is a novel of sin andredemption, but redemption on Gulley’sterms. Finally, and most importantly, thisis a book about faith.

Considered by some the greatestscience fiction novel of all time, TheStarsMy Destination is wonderful, as in “full ofwonder.” Every reader has certain booksthat change their lives or change theirperception of life. Two that come tomind, immediately, for me, are RogerZelazny’s Lord of Light and CordwainerSmith’s Norstrilia. Add this one to the list.

Sure, this 40-year-old book is a littledated, but to paraphrase Bum Phillips —If The Stars My Destination is not in a classof its own, whatever class it’s in it don’ttake long to call roll. P.W.

War of the Worlds:Global Dispatchesedited by Kevin J. AndersonBantam

$22.95H.G. Wells’s War of the Worlds has pro-

vided fertile inspiration for any numberof other invasion earth scenarios (includ-ing most recently independence Day) thathave involved other planets, places, andtimes. Orson Welles’s infamousHalloween radio broadcast further fueledthe fame of this seminal work of sciencefiction by validating its verisimilitude inthe eyes of the public. The War of theWorlds works because it’s believable.

60 NOVEMBER #235

The thrust of this new anthologyhinges on this conceit and asks thequestion: If this really happened, whatdid others have to say about it? Theresults are truly entertaining as MikeResnick tells it from Teddy Roosevelt’spoint of view, George Alec Effinger fromEdgar Rice Burroughs’ via John Carter,Robert Silverberg from Henry James’,etc. This is an anthology of wonderfulriffs on Well’s Martian War, and even ifsome of the stories fall short in terms ofplot or originality, all of them are asvastly entertaining and innovative as lis-tening to a collective of jazz musicians,each performing his own version ofsome classic tune.

Whether it’s Mark Twain observingthe war while at sea or Albert Einsteinrealizing that some things are relative,this is an anthology that entertains. B.T.

The Winter Kingby Bernard CornwellSt.Martin’s Press $24.95

Bernard Cornwell, the author of theSharpe series (dealing with theNapoleonic wars) and the StarbuckChronicles (dealing with the Civil War),has this time turned his story telling skillsto Britain in the fifth century for a natu-ralistic look at the reign of a warlordknown to history as King Arthur.

Rich in historic detail and sociologicalresearch and interpolation, Cornwellfocuses on the multitude of clashes thatwere coming to a head during the so-called Dark Ages (e.g., warlord vs. war-lord, Roman vs. British, Christian vs.Druid, old vs. new, etc.) telling the talefrom the retrospective point of view ofan aging witness Derfel Cadarn, arecently converted Christian monk whohad been a Saxon ward of Merlin andone of Arthur’s warriors.

There is a sense of weariness of thepresent in relation to the excitementand passion of the past in the narrator’svoice as he tells the story of Arthur as awarrior king and unrecognized bastardson of the former High King UtherPendragon. Arthur’s goal is to unite thedisgruntled factions of his dead father’scrumbling empire against the ravages offoreign powers. Cornwell purposelydownplays magic in favor of religiousmysticism and myth, with Derfel givingfrequent asides to the reader in anattempt to put things in perspective (eg.the truth about Excalibur, Merlin, etc.).

The Winter King is perfect for fans ofArthurian lore, particularly those whoare acquainted with the original sourcematerial by Geoffrey of Monmouth.Cornwell’s latest is historic storytelling atits best. B.T.

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The tolling of the bell reached the village long beforethe wagon did. The sound was a jangling, ear-burst-ing peal that could not be ignored, which swelled in

intensity as the wagon neared the stockade gates. Jamieheard it over the rhythmic pumping of the bellows in hisfather’s smithy. As the other youngsters streamed towardthe town’s protective wall, Jamie looked to his father. Theolder smith scowled for a moment, then nodded at theboy, and the youth was gone, bellows in mid-pump, tojoin the others at the stockade wall.

The bell was mounted atop a curious cart, slung low infront, with huge, oversized wheels in the rear, large metalmonstrosities that seemed to come from another wagonentirely. Indeed, the entire carriage seemed a hybrid ofseveral vehicles merged together, the sole survivor ofsome sorcerous collision. The forward half looked like asalvaged boat, the riding board mounted at the dragon-headed prow. The back half, raised above the hugewheels, resembled a small cottage of wood and plasterwhich had suddenly decided to take up the traveling life.A narrow balcony ran along the left-hand side of the cot-tage at about shoulder height. Small poles jutted fromevery prominence and corner, from which were hung pen-nants, tattered but brightly colored. The wagon was pulledby a pair of oxen, huge, lumbering, slow beasts, their har-nesses draped with similar tattered pennants.

The bell was mounted atop that back cottage, a high-point of cobbled stone that apparently doubled for a chim-ney. The bell was connected to the running board with athin line, broken and reknotted several times. The wagon’sdriver yanked on the rope again and again, continuing theclatter until he was right up on the gates itself. Jamienoticed that most of the rest of the town, including all theyoung people, were clustered along the stockade wall,peering over at the newcomer.

The cart’s driver looked as if he was dressed in sparepennants from his cart. His voluminous cloak was a tat-terdemalion of different fabrics, fur stitched into satin, redsilk overlapping a blue cotton. The shirt beneath was asolid white linen, and the pants a dependable blackleather, stuffed into boots, but they were overwhelmed bythe swirling brilliance of the cloak.

He bore no obvious weapons, and Jamie wondered ifthis was one of those mythical wizards, which haunted thetales his late mother told before bedtime. He decidedagainst it. The old wizards were powerful and deadly, hehad heard, and probably would ride on clouds or scaledmonsters as opposed to this travesty of a cart.

The town guard, Roger’s father, held up a hand, and thewagon’s driver ceased his ringing, but not before forcingone last, ringing peel that spun the bell over its bracket.

“Who are you,” said Roger’s father, his voice in thatdeep tone he always used when trying to commandrespect. “And why do you call all evil down upon us withyour incessant clamoring.”

The rag-tattered rainbow of a man, his face weatheredand creased, smiled at the guard. “I am a simple peddler,working my stock in trade. I seek to sell my waresthroughout your village, or failing that, allowing you to letyour citizens to come out to visit my wagon.”

Roger’s father was unmoved by the options presented.“What do you sell, peddler?”

“A variety of items, both wondrous and sweet,” respond-ed the merchant, “I have nostrums and novelties from farlands. I carry medicines and salves. I fear no evil, for I bearmagical wards and protective amulets. I have candies andsweetmeats for the children,” and with this he nodded atthe small heads poked over the wall, “And I carry powerfulrelics for sale, and the tales of the great past.”

“The past has brought nothing but pain,” grumbledRoger’s father, “And magic is dead. But you are welcomewithin our village, and may seek to sell your wares.” Withthat he waved at the gate-guards, who swung the stock-ade doors open.

The wagon lurched forward. As the peddler cleared thegate, he poked his hand into a satchel at his side. He cameup with a handful of candy, individually wrapped in brightly-colored paper. He scattered the candy in a bright arch to hisright, and then another handful to his left. The younger chil-dren squealed and dived for the sweets. Jamie himselfsnagged a piece in the air, and quickly unwrapped it. It wasa sweet caramel, which dissolved on his tongue.

Having purchased the loyalty of the youngest membersof the crowd, the peddler guided his wagon through the dirtstreets of the town. Rogers father led the way, to the opencommons at the center. A few of the town’s sheep bahhedin protest at the presence of the lumbering oxen, but madesufficient room for the wizened old man and his wagon.

The merchant gave his bell rope a sharp tug, setting offone last jangling peel. Then he rose from his perch andwalked around to the left side of the carriage, along thebalcony. Those children who had gathered on the rightside quickly shifted position, on the off-chance that oldpeddler wanted to pass out more candy.

The balcony was the peddler’s stage, keeping himabove the gathered crowd. By now many of thetownswomen, and those of the townsmen with little elseto do, had joined the crowd. The old man smiled at theassemblage, cleared his throat with a theatrical grabbingof his larynx, and began his patter.

“Greetings, good townsfolk,” he began, his voice rollingand melodious, “I thank you for taking in this humble trav-eler, the well-meaning peddler of the past. I am Habakor,the last of Fizban’s pupils before the War of the Lance, inthese late days reduced to selling balms and sundries,telling tales of history and offering a glimpse of legend.Gather round and let me tell you of all manner of marvels.”

The peddler reached into a fold of his cloak and pulledout what looked like a lump of blackened wood set witha translucent, yellowing gem, cracked and fire-scarred.

“This is a fragment of my mentor’s own staff,” saidHabakor, “Smashed in his final battle with Chaos, all thoseyears ago. Would you like to hear the tale?”

The younger children gave a hasty assent, and beforewaiting for the adults to wade in, the peddler began torecount the tale. His master, Fizban, was a mighty mage,and was sought out to battle the the great smokey beastof Chaos. As his apprentice, and a mere boy, Habakoraccompanied him on the quest, so the audience shouldrealize that what he said was true.

64 NOVEMBER 1996

As Habakor spoke, he paced the length of his smallstage, and all eyes followed him as he recounted the tale ofhis own passage into the Lands of Chaos with his master.His voice was smooth and relentless, speaking as if he hadno need to take a breath, each sentence spilling into thenext without pause. He told of entering the twisted landswith his master, and of the dangers they faced together,until at last they confronted the chaos-beast.

“Dark as the thickest smoke, it was, towered above mymaster and I,” said Habakor, “It blocked out the stars, andthe moons themselves changed their course to avoid strik-ing it. Fizban turned to me and bade me flee back to theland of the living. I did as he asked, but looked back onlyonce, to see Fizban wielding his staff, glowing like the sunitself, battling the blackness of Chaos. There was a blind-ing flash, then both were gone, and I found the wreckageof his staff where they both once stood. This staff,” thepeddler waved the gem-set fragment of wood. “That wasthe last I saw of the mightiest mage of Ansalon. It is saidthat magic itself died with his passing.”

Jamie inhaled sharply, realizing that he had been hold-ing his breath through the last of the tale. He could imag-ine the smokey embers of Chaos’ domain, the power ofthe great beast, and the valiant sacrifice of this Fizban, talland quick-witted, who battled the darkness.

Jamie’s revery was shattered by a shout from the rearof the crowd. Shel’s father, who spent most of his after-noons drinking, laughed loudly and bellowed, “And howmuch are you selling that trinket for, peddler?”

Habakor’s face creased in a deep frown, and he seemedgenuinely hurt by the words. “This is my only memento ofFizban’s legacy,” he said sharply, “I would never part withit, regardless of the price, and I am insulted that anyonewould think I would,” He paused here, and scanned thecrowd, as if daring anyone else to challenge his honor. Noone responded, and the peddler permitted a smile, “Now ifyou are intent on purchasing artifacts, I have somethingthat might interest you.”

The peddler ignored Shel’s father’s deep chuckle as heproduced a thin blade from beneath his cloak. It wasmade of fine steel, and had a stylized symbol carved intothe hilt. “This is the dagger of Sturm, with which he defeat-ed the woman-dragon Kitiara in single combat, though atthe cost of his own life. Would you like to hear this story?”

A shout of agreement brought another tale, this oneclimaxing in the great warrior spilling off the wall of hiswhite citadel, locked in a deathgrip with a great shape-shifting dragon who was once his lover. At its conclusion,Old Ben the Innkeep shouted an offer for the knife.Habakor said that was an insult, and Old Ben raised hisprice by half. Habakor demurred again, but finally settledwhen Old Ben threw in lodging for the night. The sale wasconsummated, and Habakor tossed another handful ofcandy to the children clustered aside the cart.

So the afternoon went. Habakor lectured on a series ofherbal balms, used by Goldmoon herself to bring her hus-band Riverwind back from the dead. From within thedepths of his cart, he presented a great glass sphere, withwhich, in the days of magic, Raistlin battled with the arch-lich Fistandantilus. That one received no offers, but he was

more successful with several bottles of a sanguine liquidcalled Toedesblood, a cure-all supposedly leeched fromthe living flesh of a great emperor of Flotsam.

There were protective amulets made of dragon scales,charms cut from the tusks of the demonic Thanoi. A fryingpan once owned by Tika Majere. Small wooden toys, sup-posed first designed by Fizban himself to entertain Raistlinas a child, and all manner of rings, claimed to be oncemagical, but now in these later days little more than goodluck charms and keepsakes.

With each new item there was a story, and with eachstory there was a sale, perhaps two. Jamie, Roger, Shel,and the rest of the young people hung on every word, andsome parted with their own coins for a ring or a bracelet.

Finally, as the sun was kissing the horizon behind him,the peddler called a halt to his sales. He claimed his throatwas raw from talk, though he seemed to be just as smoothand melodious as he had been at the start. One last scat-tering of sweets, and the crowd dispersed, most of theyoung people excited by the tales, and a few worriedabout ignoring their chores for a full afternoon.

Jamie returned to find his father at the forge, as he hadleft him. The older man grunted at the boy and pointed atthe bellows. Jamie resumed his position at the forge, work-ing the thick, wooden pump-handle to keep the coals hot.“Did you have a chance to hear the peddler?” the youthasked at last.

His father shook his head, “There’s work to be done,”he said gruffly, “No time for foolishness.”

“He had all these amazing things,” continued Jamie.His father looked at him, “You didn’t buy anything from

him, did you?”Jamie shook his head, but flushed. He had thought

about it, but didn’t feel he could afford any of the moreamazing items. Still, the accusation that he might eventhink about wasting money embarrassed him. His fatherworked hard, and was a prudent man with his money.

Jamie tried another approach, “But he told all thesewonderful tales.”

“Lies, you mean,” said his father with a deep sigh, shak-ing his head. “Peddler lies. A sweet tale to sell some gim-crack or whatsit to a foolish crowd. If there is any truth inthem, it is buried so deep that it would take ten men withshovels a week to dig it out.”

The father looked at the boy’s expression as he spoke,and Jamie’s face revealed his disappointment. His father’svoice softened just a touch. “When I was your age, son, Imet a merchant like that. He had a pair of skulls mountedon his wagon, a large one and a small one. He said thelarge one was the skull of Fistandantilus the Arch-lich, andthe smaller one . . .”

“Was the skull of Fistandantilus as a boy,” came a low,laughing voice from the door. Habakor the peddler stoodin the doorway, shorn of his tatterdemalion robe, a simplesack over his back. “I’ve met peddlers like that myself. Andthere are enough pieces of Fizban’s staff to build a towertaller than Mt. Nevermind. There are too many rogues andincompetent con men in this business.”

“So you say, peddler,” said Jamie’s father. “How may wehelp you this evening?”

DRAGON #235 65

“I have business with you, smith,” said Habakor, look-ing at Jamie with one eyebrow raised. “Private business.Profitable business.”

Jamie’s father gave a small chuckle and waved the boyout the door. Jamie wanted to remain, but would not dis-obey his father. Of course, the youth circled around to theback of the shop and re-entered the forge area from therear door. Jamie chose a hiding place among a collection offireplace tongs, pokers, shovels, and other instruments. Hewanted to hear what the peddler wanted with his father.

The two were in deep, quiet conversation by the time hereturned, seated at the workbench. Neither noticed him.The peddler laughed and smiled, and his father returnedthe smile with a deep chuckle of his own. Jamie recognizedhis father’s chuckle — it was a business chuckle, one usedin dealing with warriors and guards. A calculated, brieflaugh. Jamie could see his father’s eyes, and they were ashard as when he dealt with the long-standing debtor.

Habakor the peddler was talking, “As a reasonableman, Smith, I think you understand the need for silence onthe matter.”

“Silence comes at a premium,” said Jamie’s father,“You’ve filled my son’s head with all manner of wild tales.”

“Tales you heard as a youth, as well,” said the peddler,“Or versions of them. And they seem to have not harmedyou in the least. Young people need such wondrous tales.It gives them hope.”

“It gives them ideas,” said Jamie’s father, “Dangerousideas in a world much more deadly than it was when I wasa lad. Now how can I help you?”

The peddler reached into his satchel, “I need,” said,pulling a blade from his satchel, “To restock my supplies.”

Jamie almost gasped. The blade Habakor now wieldedwas twin to the one he had sold to Old Ben that afternoon,a blade the peddler had sworn was unique. In the light ofthe hearth, Jamie could see Sturm’s symbol carved intothe hilt. The Peddler handed it hilt-first to the Smith.

Jamie’s father took the dagger, turning it over in hishands, “Solid workmanship. Simple enough design. I sup-pose its better that way, eh?”

The peddler gave a mild laugh, “Easier to resupply, yes.And I can do the engraving myself, so you don’t have todo it here.”

“How many?” said his father, “And when?”“Your town has been most beneficent,” said the Peddler,

“I will be here for two days. Past that I find that some cus-tomers have doubts about my balms and potions, and mytales grow old to the ears. I will need a half-dozen, at least,a full dozen if you can make them.”

Jamie’s father grunted, the kind of grunt he used whensizing up a grade of ore or a rival smith’s work. “Have tohave the boy help me.”

The peddler shook his head, “Leave the boy his dreams.Mine were shattered early, and you see where it left me.”

“Can get you a half-dozen by tomorrow night, then,” saidthe Smith, “And will you pay for my services, and my silence?”

The peddler leaned back on his seat, “I could pay youin mere steel, petty coins from lost empires and deadkings,” he said, pulling another item out of the satchel, “OrI could offer you something of real value.”

The peddler opened his hand to reveal a stoppered vialmade of carved crystal, which caught the reddish light ofthe forge and scattered it to the far corners of the shop. Atthe heart of the crystal was a mote of darkness.

“I got this from one of my brother travelers,” Habakorsaid, “who got it from a warrior in the south, who claimsto have found it among the wreckage near Tarsis. Withinthis sealed bottle is the spirit of darkness itself, a piece ofthe great Chaos. Quite the conversation piece.”

Jamie’s father frowned deeply, setting the false Sturm-blade down firmly on the table. Jamie knew that the ped-dler had stepped over a line. It was one thing for the mer-chant to casually admit he was defrauding the others intown. It was another for him to try it with his father.Jamie’s father was slow to anger, but once angry wascapable of rash, sudden actions.

“I don’t need your rose-water medicines,” snarled thesmith, “And I don’t like the assumption that I am as gullibleas Old Ben and the rest.”

“I would not insult you like that,” said the peddler, “Forthis it truly what I have been told it is. Think, you couldcharge admission, or trade it to some passing warrior oraspiring necromancer. See, the wax seal is set with thegolden sigil of the rulers of Tarsis.”

“I would rather have hard currency,” said Jamie’s fatherabruptly.

“But this is worth twice, three times what I would other-wise pay,” said the merchant, and Jamie realized, the ped-dler was trying to avoid paying in hard coin. His father hadalready surmised that, and was getting angry.

“If you don’t have the money, peddler,” said Jamie’sfather, “Then I expect you to leave. Now.”

“Please, examine it,” The peddler shoved the vial forward,into the smith’s face. “I have been assured by one of the lastpriests of Mishakal, with her dying breath she told me . . .”

“Enough!” sad Jamie’s father sharply, raising his hand tobat away the proffered vial.

The peddler was too close, and the smith’s blow wastoo solid. The vial tumbled from Habakor’s hand in a lowarch. It smashed against the side of the firepit, chipping awhite scar into the stone. The force of the impact crackedthe wax seal around its stopper.

There was silence in the forge between the two men,the only sound the soft popping of the forge. Then therewas another sound, a high-pitched ringing, like the noisemade from running a wet finger over the rim of a glass.Jamie raised his hands to his ears, but the sound seemedto bore into his brain.

Both men, and Jamie from his hiding place, looked at thecrystal, which now seemed to vibrate and glow of its ownaccord. Jamie’s father stepped forward, curious, but the ped-dler stepped back, his face suddenly contorted in fear.

The stopper of the vial shot from the throat of the bot-tle like a dragon from its den, smashing in a thousandminiscule shards against the firepit stone. Then out of thebottle oozed a thick, oily blackness.

It was the shade of a starless night, without definition,having only a silhouette, a border within which lurked utterdarkness. As it spilled out of the bottle it swelled, until at lastit had the size and rough form of a human being. Its head

66 NOVEMBER 1996

was too large for any human, though, and when it hissed atthe men, Jamie could see row upon row of razor-sharpfangs, the only white against the surrounding oblivion.

The peddler let out a strangled cry as Jamie’s fathercursed, reaching for the false Sturm-knife on the table. Theshadow creature was faster, however, and lashed out withone arm. Its blow caught Jamie’s father at the side of thehead and the Smith was knocked back across the room.

Jamie let out a shout, and both the peddler and theshadow creature swiveled their heads at him. The shadowcreature was only visible by its ivory teeth, which flashedin a twisted, ragged grin at the boy. Then the beast turnedback towards Habakor the peddler. The merchant’s facewas white as ash, and he stumbled backwards over a lowbench, sprawling on the floor.

Jamie was on his feet in an instant, grabbing one of thecold iron pokers, the closest weapon at hand. Jamie hur-tled the workbench and brought the poker in a low, levelstroke, hoping to catch the creature in the side of belly.

The poker passed through the being as if the creaturewere made of smoke, ripping out patches of darkness as itpassed through the beast. The attack seemed to have someeffect, in that the creature let loose a low, guttural howl.

The beast turned and lashed out at Jamie, a hard, back-handed blow of the type that had struck his father. Jamiewas prepared for the attack, and dodged backward. Therows of sharp-fanged teeth turned to him and gnashedonce, then twice. Jamie backed up now, keeping the pokerin front of him, until he felt the back of his thighs touch thestones of the firepit. The heat of the forge rippled throughthe back of his shirt.

The darkness beast crouched low, then leaped at thelad. Jamie twisted at the last moment out of the way, andraised his hand to protect his face as the beast leapt intothe hot coals of the forge itself.

The beast yelped at the heat, and began to burn, theedges of its silhouette-form crackling and burning with apurplish heat. Jamie shouted and drove the poker throughthe creature’s midsection, pinning it to the hearth itself. Thepoker sank through the beasts back with a satisfying thunk,driving face-down into the coals. The beast thrashed, but itslimbs were already in flames and it moves slowly.

The coals began to glow more hotly, and Jamie lookedup to see the peddler was at the bellows, pulling the wood-en pump-handle down with both hands, heating the coalsto a white radiance. The beast squirmed and howled, lash-ing backward at the boy. Jamie held tightly onto the poker.

The creature’s head then started slowly, painfully to pivotaround its neck, the purple flames dancing on all sides of it.The rows of ivory fangs came into view as the beast slowlysnaked its head forward to bite at Jamie’s hands. The youthcould not close his eyes as the jaws edged closer.

Then the ivory-filled maw was knocked aside by anotherslab of cold iron, the business end of a fireplace shovel. Thecreature hissed, squirmed and lashed at this new attack, butJamie’s father held firm, swatting the creature’s head asideeach time it lunged at the boy. Jamie tightened his grip andbore down harder through the darkness, pinioning the shad-ow beast in place. The entire smithy was lit with the purplelight of the burning shadow.

The entire creature was on fire now, its impenetrableflesh turning to greyish ash, incandescing violet againstthe coals. The creature’s snarls became choked rasps, andfinally weak, choppy breaths. At last it moved no longer,but the peddler kept pumping the bellows and his fatherkept piling the white-hot coals on the beast. After a longtime, Jamie finally relaxed his grip and withdrew thepoker. Nothing stirred in the coals of the forge.

Jamie gasped both from the heat and the danger, andrubbed an arm over his sweaty brow. “What was that?” hequietly asked the two older men.

“Chaos Minion,” said Habakor the peddler, then gulped,“Blackflame. Maybe an efreeti.” He looked at Jamie and hisfather, then added, “I really don’t know. I really don’t.”

“You’ll think of something,” muttered the father, right-ing the toppled benches and table, as if nothing had hap-pened. “You still want the blades?”

The peddler opened his mouth, then shut it again. Itwas a few moments until he spoke. “If it were just thesame, I’d like to buy out the rest of your fireplace instru-ments. And I’ll paid hard coin for them. No barter or trade.”

The Smith looked at Jamie, then back at the Peddler,hefting the small shovel. Including these?” he asked. Jamiegripped the poker tightly, as if it were still his weapon.

“No,” said the peddler, slumping onto a bench. “But I’dappreciate it if you hung those over your forge. I’ll sell theother tools, but I’ll tell the tale of what happened here.People will want to come see the tools that killed the dark-ness. Not weapons, not spells, not enchantments, but sim-ple tools, wielded by skilled hands.” He reached out a hand,resting it on Jamie’s shoulder. “Promise me you’ll do this.”

Jamie looked at his father. The older man gave the lad asmall smile, a nod, and a grunted assent. Jamie nodded too.

The old peddler rose, brushing the last bit of dirt fromhis shirt and pants. After a few last pleasantries, Habakordisappeared into the night, leaving Jamie and his father toclean up the rest of the damage.

Jamie asked, “Are you really going to hang up the tools,like you said?”

“We promised,” said his father with a small smile, “Andbesides, given that herbal salesman’s patter, he’ll haveyou turned into Sturm’s grandson before he’s hit threemore towns. When people come by to find out, we can tellthem the truth on the matter.”

Jamie thought for a moment, “I thought you said theywere peddler lies.”

His father looked at the shovel, then hung it above theforge, “I guess that’s when they happen to other people.When they happen to you, they become tales worth telling.

Jamie handed his father the poker, and the older manhung the second tool across the first. Pleased with hishandiwork, Jamie’s father looked at the boy and smiled.

“And people always need these wonderful tales,” hesaid softly, “It gives them hope.”

While Jeff Grub's Krynnish fans know him for Lord Toede,his most recent novel is Cormyr, written with Ed Greenwood.

DRAGON #235 67

I ‘ve been the POLYHEDRON® Newszine edi-tor in the RPGA® Network for sixmonths now, yet whenever we’re all

sitting around the office talking aboutNetwork services, I think to myself, “Thiswould make absolutely no sense to anoutsider.”

If you’re a Network outsider, chancesare you’ve read all the pages with coloron them by now. You’ve read the arti-cles with application to your game. Youread the comics. You may even haveread Larry’s commentary on the coverartist by now. Now you’re just wander-ing around the rest of the magazine,seeing what’s left.

If this is you, pay attention. You’re theone I want. The rest of you keep read-ing, but feel free to stretch your legs orget something to eat. Skimming this col-umn is acceptable for you. Don’t go farthough, because I get back to youtoward the end.

As for you outsiders, you and I are notso dissimilar. Until recently, I too was JoeGamer, with above average verbal skillsperusing DRAGON® Magazine every month.I played with friends weekly, maybe lessaround holidays. I frequented comicsand games stores. And I was entirely inthe dark about the RPGA Network. I wasa Network member in high school about10 years ago, but I dropped out when itdidn’t seem to have any useful applica-tion (the Network, not high school). As Igot older, Network benefits still seemeda bit thin. Twenty bucks got me a maga-zine, a patch, and a plastic card I’d windup losing. Whoopty.

Things are a bit different now, and Idon’t say that just because I bought intothe establishment. I say that becausesomebody finally figured out that theNetwork has scads of potential. A world-

wide organization of gamers, dedicatedto furthering role-playing games as vehi-cles of entertainment and enlightenment,might have something to offer for mem-bers and non-members. What does thatmean for you, the non-member?

On a personal, immediate level, theNetwork can do more for you now thanever before, especially if you attend role-playing game conventions. If you attendeven one convention during the year,you can’t afford not to be a Networkmember. The RPGA mark on a game ata convention means it was edited (andsometimes playtested) to ensure qualityand fun. In addition to the quality ofmodules, Network players and judgesare typically of a higher quality. ANetwork member is usually someonewho cares enough about role-playing tostrive for more than monster-bashing.Not that monster-bashing is all bad, butwe’re the RPGA, not the MBGA.

We also publish a monthly Newszinefilled with player and DM tips, adven-tures, additions for your campaign, andinside industry info. We call it POLYHEDRON

Newszine for a reason: It’s a multi-facetedpublication. Running the gamut of therole-playing community, we serve theyoung, the old, the hardened con-goers,the new players, American gamers,members in more than a dozen foreigncountries, RPGA Network campaigns,entrenched home games, and everyonewho cares about role-playing games.Many people find that the Newszinealone is reason enough to be a memberof the Network, aside from any otherbenefits they may receive.

On another level, we offer severalways for you to heighten your gamingenjoyment through the Network. Thefollowing initiatives are on the way;

some will even be in place by the timeyou read this:

“DM school” for prospective gamemasters. We plan to create a “textbook”and a “class” for Network game mastersto increase their skill in this all-importantrole-playing ability;

A retailer program to give mem-bers a 10% discount at participatingstores. This entire concept is so win-winthat your retailer would have to haveconcrete for brains not to participate;

Demo teams fo r Ne twork -sponsored games. Take the game to theplayers. Schools and libraries are full ofpeople who would love to learn moreabout gaming if someone would tellthem. A demo game or mini-con is easyto run, and members who do it get tokeep the stuff they used to demo.

There’s even more stuff in the worksthat’s so new and different to theNetwork that we can’t talk about it yet.Suffice it to say, now’s a primo time tojump on this bandwagon.

Now, you insiders, start readingagain. The fact that you’re on the insidemeans that you’re a vital organ in theRPGA body. Look back at all that fantas-tic stuff I just listed that we’re going todo. As a “brain cell” for the Networkbody, I can think up promising plans allday. Without you to implement them,the gray matter doesn’t matter.

You are the liaison between the out-sider and the Network. Tell them whatyou like about the Network. Arrange todemo games at your local store, library,or school to pull in non-members andeven non-gamers. You already know thecathartic, endorphin-laced joy role-play-ing brings; just introduce others to it.Then, together, you can pool efforts toincrease everyone’s enjoyment. After all,both insiders and outsiders understandthe concept of fun. Why else do we playgames?

Jeff Quick is a certified wunderkind, com-pleting his first degree in astrophysics at age15. He has gone on to win three Nobelprizes in the sciences and humanities, aswell as engendering an experimental com-mune in France based on searching for nat-ural virtue in humankind. No wait — that‘ssomebody else.

For more information about theNetwork's programs, write to: RPGANetwork, 201 Sheridan Springs Rd.,Lake Geneva, WI 53147, or sende-mail to: [email protected].

68 NOVEMBER 1996

by Skip Williams

If you have any questions on the gamesproduced by TSR, Inc., “Sage Advice” willanswer them. In the United States andCanada, write to: Sage Advice, DRAGON®Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Road,Lake Geneva, WI 51347, U.S.A. In Europe,write to: “Sage Advice,” DRAGON Magazine,TSR Ltd., 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,Cambridge, CB1 3LB, U.K. You can alsoe-mail questions to [email protected].

We are no longer able to make personalreplies. Please send no SASEs with yourquestion. SASEs are being returned withcopies of the writer’s guidelines.

This month, “Sage Advice” considers thephysical demands of long bows, puts somemental energy into questions of psionics,and peers into a few magical mysteries.

How tall does someone have to be towield a longbow? In the originalPIayers Handbook on page 19(Character Classes table II) it reads:“Characters under 5’ height cannotemploy the longbow . . . . ” In the old sec-ond edition Players Handbook on page73 (weapon size) it talks about weaponsize but is vague on the use of long-bows. The reason I ask is because mydwarf PC, who is 4’ 9” tall wants to useone, and my elf PC who is 4’ 8” tall wasusing one before I took notice of thenote in the original Players Handbook.

According to the current rules (seethe Weapons section in Chapter 6 of thePHB) a character can wield any weaponof his size or smaller in one hand. Usingtwo hands, a character can wield aweapon one size larger than himself. Nocharacter can use a weapon two ormore sizes larger than himself. Sinceboth characters in your example aremembers of man-sized races, they bothcan employ long bows using two hands;in this case, one hand on the bow’sshaft and one hand on the string (thathand also holds the arrow) counts astwo-handed use. Small and tiny crea-tures, such as gnomes and pixies, can-not use long bows.

What happens when a psionicistattacks a non-psionicist with psionicblast, id insinuation, or other psionicattack mode from the Complete PsionicsHandbook without using the contactdevotion first? Can the psionicist gaintangents on an opponent by using mul-tiple psionic attacks to establish con-tact? Or would he have to use contactfirst and then use his attacks on thenon-psionicist?

Attack modes used against a closedmind can establish contact, but only ifthe target has some psychic ability. Seepage 25 in the Complete PsionicsHandbook and the description of eachattack mode for details. Attack modeshave no effect on a non-psionicist’smind, which must be opened though asuccessful use of the contact devotionfirst. If two psionicists want to exchangetelepathic messages, they, too, can usecontact to establish a mental link withpsychic combat. Note that in the newpsionics system (presented in therevised DARK SUN® setting and again inthe PLAYER’s OPTION™ Skills & Powers book)contact is not a psychic power, but aproficiency that allows the user to learnattack modes.

If a character wanted to make a tele-pathic powers effects permanent viapsychic surgery from the PLAYER‘S OPTION:Skills & Powers book would the psioni-cist have to pay the cost for the surgeryand the power to be made permanentevery round the surgery lasts? Or is thecost paid only once even though theprocedure takes ten rounds? Also, if thesubject of the surgery is a willing one,does the psionicist still have to pay thehigher PSP cost due to the subjectslevel? I would think that it would be eas-ier to perform on a willing subjectrather than against someone’s will.

The PSP cost for the power to bemade permanent need be paid onlyonce, at the end of the surgery. The PSP

cost for the surgery itself must be paideach round the surgery lasts. The costper round remains the same no matterhow the recipient feels about it; theincreased PSP cost for recipient withmore than 6 levels or hit dice replacesthe base cost for the surgery. If the recip-ient is unwilling, the surgeon must firstopen the recipients mind through psy-chic combat. Note also that the surgeonmust touch the recipient throughout thesurgery. Unwilling recipients usuallymust be restrained in some fashion; thesurgeon must begin the process all overagain if the recipient breaks free beforethe surgery is complete.

How does the signature spell con-cept from the PLAYER’s OPTION: Spells &Magic book work for sha’irs from theAL-QUADIM® setting? Can they even use itat all? Are they treated as specialists ormages for the purposes of cost in slotsor spell points? Normal wizards gainthe benefit of one memorization of thesignature spell at no cost in spell slots,but that benefit is useless to sha’irs.Would it be reasonable to allow sha’irsthe benefit of speeding up their gens’search for the signature spell, say downto the minimum for that spell?

A sha’ir can designate a signaturespell. The sha’ir follows the proceduredescribed on page 57 of Spells & Magicand must fulfill all the requirements intime, money, and proficiency slots (orcharacter points). The cost is the same asfor a mage, and the sha’ir’s gen mustparticipate in the process. The signaturespell must be one that a native Zakharanwizard of the sha’ir’s level can cast. Asha’ir cannot choose a priest spell as asignature spell nor can he choose anyspell unknown in the Land of Fate orwhose level would be beyond his abilityto cast if he were a normal wizard.

Once the sha’ir and his gen learn thesignature spell, the gen can automaticallyfind the spell for the sha’ir once a daywithout any dice rolls. This once-a-daysearch always takes the minimum timeand always succeeds, no matter what thegen’s chance to locate the spell normallywould be. The sha’ir can request that thegen make a regular search for the signa-ture spell anytime, but all the rules onpage 98 of the Arabian Adventures bookapply to such searches. Whenever thesha’ir receives the signature spell (even ifthe gen locates the spell through normalmeans) the sha’ir enjoys all the benefitsof a signature spell (a two-level bonus toeffective casting level or a -2 penalty to

70 NOVEMBER 1996

the target’s saving throw). If the sha’irever loses his gen, he retains the castingbenefits but his new gen has no specialability to find the signature spell, thoughit can be trained to do so at the same costas establishing a new signature spell.

Can a song mage make use of avocalize spell to cast spells from theschool of song without any material orsomatic components (just sheer mentaleffort)? Recall that song mages normallyrequire only verbal components whencasting spells from the school of song.The reason I ask is because I have night-mares about song mages with a persis-tent spell effect ability (vocalize) runningaround rampantly casting spells withoutever uttering a single song.

Rest easy. A song mage must alwayssing to cast spells. A vocalize spell canallow other wizards to cast spells insilence, but a song mage’s singing is thesole medium for his magic — no singing,no spell casting.

In the Player’s Handbook, under 1st-level wizard spells, it says that cantrip isa part of all schools of magic. It alsosays illusionists and other specialistwizards can memorize an extra spellper level, provided that extra spell isfrom the specialist’s school of special-ization. Does cantrip count as one of theextra spells an illusionist or other spe-cialist can memorize? Also, I alwaysthought that the cantrip spell worked asdescribed in the Player’s Handbook.The new CD-ROM suggests that onewould have to learn it for each schoolof magic. Is that the case?

Any specialist can choose cantrip ashis bonus 1st-level spell. A wizard needlearn cantrip only once.

The article “A Flurry of Swords” inIssue #232 gave descriptions of manynew weapons. Each description had acategory for proficient use and special-ized use, where extra damage orbonuses to speed factors were listed.Do these rules also apply to the estab-lished weapons from sources such asthe Player’s Handbook? While we’re onthe subject of new weapons, how doesone decide which die to use as aweapon’s knockdown die (from theCombat & Tactics book)? Is it related toweapon size or speed?

The bonuses the article gives for pro-ficient and specialized use apply only tothe weapons listed in the article. If youdecide to use these weapons with the

standard rules for weapon specializationor any of the optional rules for weaponof choice, weapon expertise, or weaponmastery, the wielder gains all the bene-fits of the weapon and his level of skill.For example a 7th-level fighter special-ized in kyber knife would gain a speedfactor of 2, an attack bonus of +1, adamage bonus of +2 (which rises to +4against armored humanoids), and twoattacks per round.

When assigning a knockdown die toa new weapon, look on the MasterWeapon list in Chapter 7 of the Combat& Tactics book and find a similarweapon; use that weapon’s knockdowndie for the new weapon. Most of the

I recommend that you allow the bene-fits for proficient use only to wielders who

weapons from “A Flurry of Swords”

actually spend a weapon proficiency slotor character points to learn its use; char-

should get a d8 for a knockdown die

acters who have familiarity with theweapon or who use it as part of a

(though the kyber knife would have a

weapon group shouldn’t get the bonus.Likewise, a wielder should get the bonus-

d6 for a knockdown die because it’s sim-

es for specialized use only if the wielderactually specializes or achieves masterywith the weapon. Designating one of

ilar to a short sword). If you can’t find a

these weapons as a weapon of choice or

similar weapon, assign a knockdown die

gaining expertise with one of theseweapons should not grant any bonusesfor specialized use.

roughly the same size as the damagedie the wielder rolls against man-sizedopponents.

In the Spells & Magic book (and otherplaces), it says only wild mages can usewild magic spells. This makes sense;after all, only chronomancers can usechronomancy spells. But, if this is true,why do wild magic spells end up on thespell lists of other wizard schools?Chronomancers have access to alter-

nate reality, alchemists can use pattern-weave, song mages get fireflow andspellshape, geometers get Hornung’sbaneful deflector and there/not there.This seems to weaken the wild magespecialty by allowing so many othercasters free access to spells which, bydefinition, are difficult to control. Why isthis so?

Anyway, when a non-wild magecasts a wild magic spell, do they getlevel variations during the casting aswild mages do? Or do they control thewild magic spell as easily as any otherin their repertoire?

The official word from TSR, Inc. is thatalternate reality is a chronomancy spellas well as a wild magic spell. With thatsole exception, wild magic spells are notavailable to other spell casters andshould be struck from any non-wildmage spell list where they appear.

When a chronomancer casts alternatereality, no wild surge occurs, because thecaster isn’t using wild magic.

Thank you for the column (issue#231) about giving character points topsionicist PCs. A printing blooper seemsto have left the PSP bonus ability withno character point cost. Oh, well, lifewithout bloopers would be just a bitboring. While you’re fixing that, tell ushow many character points psionicistsreceive for weapon and non weaponproficiencies.

Actually, there were two bloopers,both mine, not the printer’s. The PSPbonus costs 10 character points. Alsodrop the MAC bonus ability. Instead, thepsionicist gains the mental armor profi-ciency for free with the purchase of themental defense ability. Here’s the scoopon psionicist proficiencies:

Weapon Proficiencies: Once thepsionicist has purchased class abilities hereceives 6 character points for weaponproficiencies. The psionicist can spendthese points as designated in Table 1.

Table 1: Psionicist weapon proficienciesAbility CP costProficiency in a single weapon from the psionicist list 3Proficiency in a single weapon from the warrior list 4Designating a weapon of choice 3*Weapon Expertise (one weapon) 4*Weapon Specialization (one weapon) 8 **

Learning a fighting style 1†

* in addition to the cost for proficiency in the weapon.** in addition to the costs of proficiency in the weapon and the ability to specialize

sile,† Psionicists can learn these fighting styles: one-handed weapon, weapon and shield, two weapon, mis-horse archer, thrown weapon/sling, and special.

DRAGON #235 71

Table 2: Additional psionicist nonweapon proficienciesProficiency cost* Initial Relevant

Rating AbilityContact** 5 N/A Wisdom/IntuitionMental Armor** 3 N/A Wisdom/WillpowerPsionicist GroupGem Cutting 3 6 Dexterity/AimHarness Subconscious** 6 7 Wisdom/WillpowerMeditative Focus** 5 8 Wisdom/IntuitionMusical Instrument 2 7 Charisma LeadershipReading/Writing 2 8Intelligence/KnowledgeRejuvenation** 3 6 Wisdom/Willpower

* Cost in character points** Proficiency described in Chapter 9 of the Skills & Powers book.

Nonweapon proficiencies: Once the give my character. For instance, if I failpsionicist has purchased class abilitiesand weapon proficiencies he receives 6character points for nonweapon profi-ciencies. The psionicist can choose pro-ficiencies from the general and psioni-cist groups. Refer to the Skills & Powersbook, Chapter 6, and to Table 2 above.

I’d like to try out the Rod of SevenParts adventure, but I’ve already readthe book; is there any point in playingthe adventure now?

There sure is. The adventure in theRod of Seven Parts boxed set is not theadventure Kip Kayle (the book’s halfinghero) had.

I am about to start running a pixiethief (cutpurse kit) and I wanted toknow what bonus being invisible would

to pick someone’s pocket, can they seeme? If I stab someone, do I become vis-ible? Or do I become visible for a sec-ond and then invisible again? And,since I am invisible, do I have a +4 onmy armor class due to being invisible?Why is it that pixies, as monsters, havea 25% magic resistance, but, as ahumanoid race, you do not have themagic resistance?

Pixies have natural invisibility anddon’t become visible unless they will itor unless forced into visibility in somefashion (a successful dispel magic againstan 8th-level effect can do so, as canmundane actions such as coating thepixie with paint or flour). A failed pick-pocket attempt would give the victim achance to notice the invisible pixie (seethe description of the 2nd-level wizard

spell invisibility for details). A meleeattack certainly would get an oppo-nent’s attention and alert him to thepixie’s presence. Neither act makes thepixie visible, however, and any oppo-nents unable to see the pixie suffer thestandard -4 attack penalty.

Noticing an invisible creature andactually seeing it are two differentthings. If a creature merely notices aninvisible creature, it knows approximate-ly where the creature and can attack itbut stil l suffers the attack penalty.Actually seeing an invisible creaturerequires a detect invisibility or true seeingspell, a natural ability to detect invisiblecreatures, or some way to negate theinvisibility.

Obviously, pixies who haven’t adopt-ed a character class must do somethingor know something adventuring pixiesdon’t. That’s why “monster” pixies havemagic resistance and pixie adventurersdon’t. The pixies aren’t saying what it is,and I’m not either.

Skip Williams, who tends to furrow hisbrows and stare intently into space fairlyoften, speculates that pixies could rule theworld if they could just keep their minds onthe task.

72 NOVEMBER 1996

“Forum“ welcomes your comments andopinions on role-playing games.

In the United States and Canada, sendany correspondence to “Forum,” DRAGON®Magazine, 201 Sheridan Springs Road,Lake Geneva, WI 53147 U.S.A. In Europe,send mail to “Forum,” Dragon Magazine,TSR Ltd., 120 Church End, Cherry Hinton,Cambridge CB1 3LB, U.K. You can also sende-mail to [email protected], but alsoinclude your full name (not screen name)and postal address.

We ask that all material be neatly typed orhandwritten. You must give us your full nameand mailing address if you expect your letterto be printed (we will not consider a letter sentanonymously), but we will withhold yourname if you ask us to do so, and we will notprint your full address unless you request it.

In 33 years of enjoying role-playinggames, this is the first time I have writtento any gaming magazine. I mention myyears of playing only as a way of intro-ducing myself to Rick Maffei, who seemsto place emphasis on experience,although denying it in the next sentence.I have read with some amusement therecent wrangling amongst Rick, TimNutting, et al., concerning AD&D® gamerules. And I must support Rick in that allof the rules are optional!

TSR has performed a great service toall gamers, most of whom can’t remem-ber what it was like to try to develop acampaign system based on Tolkien’s,Leiber’s, or Norton’s fantasy worlds with-out any guidelines whatsoever. Indeed,most would have difficulty conceiving aworld were there only six-sided dice.

TSR and others who have developedand published game systems have estab-lished bases for expanding gaming possi-bilities. These systems in essence allowedus to expand outward from the smallgroups who had each developed theirown personal game systems to a world

of players who now have some commonreference point. But my point remains: allof the rules are optional! Perhaps themost optional rules of all deal with thegeneration of character attributes.

There has been a disturbing trendtoward an over-reliance on characterattribute scores. I have seen DMs adhereto the limits set forth in AD&D rules,then provide so many attribute-enhanc-ing ioun stones that their PCs resembleuranium atoms with legs. I have seenplayers sulk and declare a characterunplayable because they had to dealwith an attribute score lower than 10 (insomething other than Charisma, ofcourse). It seems that everyone wants tostart with invincible characters andimprove from there!

Maybe it would be more fun to startall of your PCs with attributes of 8 (withracial modifiers added or subtracted)and allow them to elevate those attrib-utes during the course of a campaign, asthey age, train, or study. Perhaps, in sucha scenario, Charisma would be the oneattribute a player rolls! Maybe racial

eventually lead to new ideas and newways to explore the rich texture ofgaming.

I, for one, would also like to say thatI welcome any TSR “thugs” who mightshow up at my door. We play everySunday afternoon.

Rick BrunerAttica, IN

There seems to be a lot of troublewith exceptional Strength. I really mustrecommend doing what I did a fewyears ago (on recommendation fromanother “Forum” letter): get rid of it! Yes,don’t use exceptional Strength. Eitherkeep the strength tables the away theyare (the warriors will not be pleased), ormake a new Strength/Muscle table theway you want it. For example, I wantcharacters to have advantages alreadyat 13 Muscle, so the table I made gives abonus at 13.

Consider the benefits: Warriors whogain or lose Strength will be much easi-er to handle. As the rules are now,Strength reduction or increase either

“I welcome any TSR ‘thugs’ who might show up at my door.”

level limitations should be ignored, andyour demi-humans could advance bydoubling or tripling XP requirements.Why would any prudent DM using 3d6six times to generate scores then penal-ize the person who rolls an 18 by tellinghim that he cannot elevate a sub-abilityscore above another PC who has rolledonly a 16? Should a priest who canmemorize three 1st-, two 2nd-, and one3rd-level spells be restricted to justthese? Or should he be able to memo-rize six 1st-level spells? Or perhaps ten1st-level spells (based on spell levels)?

My point is that arguing about specificrules is pointless. A good DM will set forththe ground rules at the beginning of acampaign, and these rules may agree intotal with “established” AD&D rules orvary because of a DM or group’s prefer-ence, interest, or skill level. Attempts tocrystallize role-playing games under a setof iron-clad rules would destroy the tradi-tion of imagination that has always beenits most basic appeal. I think it’s apparentthat TSR recognizes this. Skills and Powersis the reward for every DM who has triedto develop a separate perception or intu-ition roll or who labored to balance thescales between the Wizard and Warriorclasses. The “new” rules expand the baseand fuel the imagination, and they will

ignore percentiles, reduces the per-centile amount by half (as by aging),uses 10%-increments (strength spell), oruses the different %-brackets as singlepoints of Strength. Quick, when a roperreduces a characters Strength, whichsystem do you use? Getting rid of excep-tional Strength eliminates a lot of incon-sistencies.

Also, with this system, there is nolonger such a huge gap between 17 and18 Strength. With the exceptionalStrength rules, a warrior really needs an18 to amount to something.

I guess there are benefits to theexceptional Strength system, but I don’tsee them.

On another note, GMs out there seemto have problems with Muscle 20 char-acters. The solution here is simple aswell. Make a rule that goes like this: “Noman-sized or smaller creature can have aStrength or Muscle score of more than 18by natural means”. Simple, isn’t it?

Now for the problem of elves with aReason score of 20 (at 20 Reason, youignore 2nd-level illusions, namely invisi-bility and mirror image) . . .

Rasmus Juul WagnerLunddalsvej 192600 Glostrup

Denmark

74 NOVEMBER 1996

Many letters in recent issues of DRAGON

Magazine have dealt with introducingnew PCs and transferring PCs from othercampaigns into the current game.Addressing this issue is always up to theparticular DM, but it seems almost all ofthe solutions seen to date hinder the newPC in some way.

The trend to new PCs always seemsto be to start them off at the level of thelowest-level PC already in the group.Though this may seem fair to all theother players, it is often unfair to thenew ones. By following this trend, weshould also restrict ability scores to all ofthe lowest in the campaign, as well asstarting money, equipment, and so on.What chance are we really giving thenew character?

Adding a new PC to an existing cam-paign is more than figuring stats andequipment. Somehow, the DM mustgive the PC a reason for being. A back-ground must be developed, and theplayer needs the opportunity to learnabout the world. All too often the DMjust expects the character to jump in andplay but then can’t understand why thenew character isn’t fitting in to hisgroup’s way of playing. Even experi-enced players have trouble adjustingwhen they have no stake in the finalresults of the campaign.

If a DM has the time, individual ses-sions can make the difference. If the DMcan’t, perhaps another player can runthe newcomer through some smalladventures to get him up to speed onthe campaign and the game world. Letthe newcomer role-play his PC throughkey events in his life that brought him tothe level he will be playing in the cam-paign. Let the PC find spells or magicalitems, and let him earn at least a fifth ofthe experience points necessary for hisstarting level. By doing this, the DMgives himself an opportunity to makethe new PC immediately useful to theparty, thus pulling him into play as anintegral part of the game instead ofbeing the sideliner who rolls dice andslays gnolls.

The DM can give the new PC con-tacts throughout a region, which may beuseful later, and possibly let him findsome item of significance to the rest ofthe party. Maps, books, scrolls, and evensome magical devices could be used.

How the new PC meets the party isequally important. All too often the partyis told, “You meet a wandering fighter onthe road who asks if he can travel withyou.” This automatically gives the feeling

of being a fifth wheel to many players.Instantly, the new PC becomes an extrasword, not a member of the party.Instead, make the meeting memorable,give it some meaning. It could be theparty who frees the character from a ter-rible fate, which just happens to havebeen caused by their adversary. If thenew character is wealthy, he could bethe one who lends a helping hand in acity market. Whatever you decide, makeit an opportunity for role-playing. Add itto the campaign, and make it a usefulpat of the story.

As for PCs from other campaigns, itseems we must always strip abilities orequipment or something else the playerhas grown used to having. Why hit themall at once? A good DM should be ableto find ways to balance the game andPC. This doesn’t necessarily mean thenew PC will always remain so powerful,just that the loss of abilities, equipmentor other factors should be incorporatedinto play. Just don’t forget to explain tothe new player that his luck may be justa little worse off for a time.

High stats are the hardest to dealwith, but they can be handled throughgame play and need not be axed imme-diately. The gravity on your world maybe different and have a definite affecton a PC’s Strength. Where he may havea 20 Strength from some super cam-paign he was in, in this world the gravi-ty difference causes him some penaltyto that Strength. It could take him sometime to adjust, and it still leaves the DMthe possibility to lift the burden as othercharacters progress in other areas, with-out having to pull out a few wish spells.

Intelligence and Wisdom can beaffected by the new world as well. Theseare generally a person’s ability to reasonand learn. Suddenly appearing in a newworld is little different from getting offan airplane in a city you have never vis-ited. It takes time to learn the layout ofthe area, the best places to shop, andthe disposition of the local people. Usethis to your advantage, and impose theappropriate penalties. Regardless of theIntelligence score, enforce the fact thatthis character couldn’t possibly knowsome things, simply because he hasnever been able to learn them.

Spell abilities are no different. Magicmay work differently here, and the godsmay not be as helpful in this world. Thenew character could have lower chanceof spell success for a period of time, orhe may just find it extremely difficult tolearn new spells for the first couple of

adventures.Proficiencies a lesser impact, but they

should not be neglected. For the hunter,different animals have different habits.Has the PC ever hunted the deer of yourworld? If not, his chances of a successfulhunt will be lower.

Weapons, equipment, and magicalitems take a bit more care, as they arenot explained by natural phenomenon.But this is a fantasy world. Perhaps thetrip through the plains has caused someimbalance in the magical property ofmagical items or caused some change tothe molecular structure of non-magicalitems. Perhaps the items are not as strongas they once were. Lower saving throwsfor these items will gradually eliminatethem and give the player time to adjustto not having all of his favorite gear.

And don’t forget the wonderfulthieves of your world. They live byknowing where the best targets are, notby just waiting for something good tocome their way. A group of adventurers,finding treasure and powerful items,would be a perfect target for a thief.Whatever you do, don’t penalize onlythe new PC. Give him a reason to stay.

One solution, though it can’t be usedfor every character, is to take a look atMichael Moorcock’s books of the eternalchampion. This was a hero who existedin a thousand world’s and times but wasat the core the same person. By treatinga PC as an eternal champion, you canlower the power of items but still keepthem basically the same. You changecertain aspects of his life but don’tdestroy the core feeling of the character.For the right player, this could be thebest role-playing chance he has everhad. Role-playing the adjustment willadd an enjoyable element to the cam-paign for everyone. The eternal champi-on PC must figure out just why he is inthe world, how he fits into the grandscheme of things.

Other writers give us other possibili-ties to help the DM explain why thingshappen to a new PC. DMs can graduallyadjust a PC to a new world without strip-ping him of everything that makes himwho he is. If the adjustments are goodenough, they will add to the characterand the campaign through the process,thus gaining a happy new player with-out upsetting those who have been withthe DM for a long time.

Keith HouinAddress withheld

DRAGON #235 75

Sensitivesubjects

“I thank you, gentlemen and ladies,fellow members of the Korbelian Orderof Magecrafters, for allowing me timefor this presentation, and for your atten-dance,” he said, peeking out at his audi-ence from behind the pillars at the edgeof the darkened theater’s stage, “I mustfurther inconvenience you by askingthat you refrain from the casting of anylight-producing spells for the duration ofthe seminar. They would . . . detract fromthe display.

“As I am not often found here inKhanahr, permit me to introduce myself,”he said, his barely visible outline steppingfrom the wings to stand in the darknessat center-stage, “I am Farrand Two-Spell, awizard of good standing in this Hall.”

“A technicality,” remarked one audi-ence member, sotto voce.

“Some few of you,” Farrand contin-ued, “may be familiar with my name byway of the spell I designed years ago,jokingly referred to by some as Farrand’sfreeloader, but more properly namedFarrand’s cognitive conveyance, and thatdweomer has a role in the story I amabout to tell you. Until recently, I hadamused myself by seeking the answersto problems unsolved by my predeces-sors, including even the archmageKorbel himself, but now I have comeacross a problem of my own which I askyour help in dealing with.

“Some centuries ago, a sage by thename of Arneerus, compiled a lexicon ofthe troglodyte language.” At thismoment, a troglodyte appeared to theleft of Farrand’s position, apparentlyfrom nowhere, advancing menacinglytowards the audience and then blinkingout of existence, only to reappear in itsoriginal position.

“A beginner’s illusion”, heckled thesame voice in the audience, “there’s nosound, and the animation is hardly life-like. It couldn’t convince an ankle-deepfarmer, let alone a trained wizard.”

“And,” continued Farrand withoutpause, almost as if he hadn’t heard theremark, “he was surprised to find thattroglodyte speech apparently traces itselfback to a highly degraded form of a prim-

by Spike Y. Jonesillustrated by James Holloway

itive lizard man tongue.”1 A second crea-ture then appeared, a lizard man poisedon Farrand’s other side, going throughthe same short rush at the audiencebefore instantly returning to its place.

“Arneerus was surprised, because allof the anatomical sciences seemed toshow that the two reptilians were nomore closely related than humans andgnolls.” As he spoke from his shadowyposition, the reptilians on either sidebegan to strike poses that mimickedeach other and displayed the differencesbetween their body structures.

“A second peculiarity that the sagepointed out was that troglodyte speaktheir own, lizard-man-derived languageand absolutely no other. The language ofthe lizard man has evolved somewhatsince it was learned by the trogs, chang-ing in some aspects. At that point, thetwo beasts proceeded to intone pairs ofwords in their languages to show boththe similarities and the differences.

“Sound. Nothing spectacular aboutthat,” sneered the heckler.

“There’s nothing spectacular about acantrip,” commented a mage near theman, sparks dancing on his fingertips,“until I employ it on you.”

“On no occasion has it been recordedthat a troglodyte learned even a singleword in a foreign tongue. Even whenlizard men adopted from humans thecommon word ‘halfling’ to describe thatrace,” (the lizard man made a smooth but

recognizable reptilian parody of the word,after which the illusory figure dissolvedinto the surrounding darkness), “the trogscoined a phrase to cover the new speciesfrom other lizard man words: ‘badsmelling little humans’,” (a phrase whichwas followed by the troglodyte figuremaking a similarly long speech).

“In addition, there were numeroustroglodyte words, apparently of trog, notlizard, origin, that simply baffledArneerus. This, combined with the myste-rious lack of many basic lizard man adjec-tives and adverbs, made his Beginner’sTroglodyte a primer for a pidgin-troglodyte at best. No one has yet man-aged to decipher even a single of theseextra terms, and woefully few new wordshave been discovered to fill these gaps.But flawed though it is, it has remainedthe essential tract used by those desiringto communicate with those creatureseven to this day, centuries later.²

“Seeing the gains to be made by theman completing the translation ofTroglodytian, I set myself diligently tothe task.

“At first, I explored a number of blindpassages that I should have had thesense to avoid entirely. After all, if theaccomplished lexicologist Arneerus hadforgotten to try a comprehend languagesor tongues spell on a captured specimen,then I might as well try speaking thecommon tongue to them and hope he’d


1. The relationship between the troglodyte and While the troglodyte language can be transcribedlizardman languages is only a slight one, more eas- by others, troglodyte themselves have no conceptily detectable by linguists than by adventurers. If a of written records.character speaks either of these languages, he will 2. That version of the troglodyte languagebe able to understand 10% or less of the other. which can be taught to humans and the like

expresses less than 50% of the total content oftroglodyte speech. Exceedingly simple statements,such as ‘I surrender’, ‘you surrender’, or ‘I kill you’,can be translated, but complex, intricate discussionsare impossible.

DRAGON #235 79

overlooked that obvious avenue as well.And my results duplicated those ofArneerus; even the more powerful ofthe two spells left inexplicable gaps in itstranslations, gaps that corresponded tothe gaps in Arneerus’ lexicon.

“Taking my studies to the field, I wentto a wild area a day’s travel from myhome, the place from whence my captured subject had originally been taken.After preparing a secure hiding place formy body, I cast my cognitive conveyanceon the troglodyte and then releasedhim, so that I could, from within hismind, follow him to his home and expe-rience his interaction with others of hiskind in a natural setting, hoping thus tolearn the intricacies of his language.Although I counted Troglodyte amongthe languages with which I was as fluentas any other human, I supplemented myfluency with a comprehend languagesand the most powerful extension spell ofwhich I was capable, the better to inter-pret the missing nuances of the lan-guage I was sure I would soon hear.

“After only a few minutes of travel onthe part of my host, we crossed a field ofwildly growing roses to enter a honey-comb of tunnels inhabited by a commu-nity of almost three score of thesecreatures.”

Slowly, a dim image of a branchingtunnel made itself visible to the right ofFarrand’s still-shadowed and stiffly-motionless form, moving and changingto match the description his monologuemade. And the whole while, the slightlymore animated image of the troglodytestood to his left; a constant reminder ofwhat the audience was watching for.

“The first thing that I noticed as weentered the caverns was darkness,”Farrand said as the illusion of the craggylair disappeared from his right. “AlthoughI would have panicked on my own, myhost’s mind was entirely at ease, and itwas not long before I realized that thedarkness wasn’t as unrelieved as it hadfirst appeared. Various patches of the

darkness slowly grew into wispy, redclouds and other shapes, and I realizedwhat the misty redness was. Under morepleasant circumstances, I had used thecognitive conveyance to experience anumber of things through the eyes of ayoung, elvish woman of my acquain-tance, and this recalled one of thoseexperiences; infravision.”

“Something smells off in here,” com-mented the heckler quietly enough notto raise the ire of his neighbors.

“For those of you who have infravi-sion, what you enjoy is but a pale reflec-tion of the infravision of a troglodyte,”Farrand said, as a series of shifting pic-tures in numerous subtle shades of red,orange and yellow filled the space to hisright, “I estimated that troglodyte coulddifferentiate temperatures as little as atenth of a degree apart, so that surfacesthat would appear uniformly cold toeven an elf’s eye, such as the ceiling,wails, and floor or a rock tunnel, wouldreveal enough thermal variation toallow a troglodyte to navigate as well asa human on a moon-lit night.

“Of course, such navigation tooksome getting used to, as infravision isnot a fast-acting sense like our normalvision is, but this didn’t seem to botherthe troglodyte at all because, much aswe use hearing as an adjunct to oursense of sight, his infravision was sec-ondary to his sense of smell.

“Corners in the tunnels were markedoff by scent-markers and we could evensmell around corners if we were down-wind of them, more than once detectingapproaching trogs long before we couldsee or hear them. Conversely, my hosttended to be more cautious approach-ing corners we were upwind of, as nei-ther his infravision nor his keen sense ofsmell afforded him any advantage insuch a situation.3

“I stayed with my host for a consider-able time experiencing many littledetails of his normal life. I ate a meal ofraw meat with him, raw because

troglodyte shun cooking fires or othersources of heat sufficient to blind theirinfravision.4 I relaxed with him bysmelling samples from a collection offlowers, rocks and furs, each scentedsubtly different in ways our languagehasn’t the vocabulary to describe.5 Andwe talked with other troglodyte.

“At first, the conversations were just asconfusing from the inside as they hadbeen in all my previous attempts; I againheard nearly incoherent conversations inwhich key words, descriptives, and evenwhole sentences seemed to be missing.The troglodyte talked about things com-mon to all species: their previous meals,their . . . uh . . . mating successes, theirpossessions, etcetera, but they left outimportant details like whether they likedthe taste of the meal, what their matelooked like, or even exactly what pos-sessions each one had.

“But the key to the missing wordscame when I realized the name of theindividual I was being conveyed by. Inever heard his name spoken, but morethan once, at a point in the conversationwhen a name would have been expect-ed, I smelled a curious blend of fra-grances. It took a number of repetitionsbefore I had both separated the differentscents, and realized that these scentswere the name of my host in the real lan-guage of the troglodyte. His name wasRose-Boiled Cabbage-Mild Skunk, andthis was all accomplished by thetroglodyte’s bodies manufacturing thesescents and releasing them into the air asif they were words!

“For a time I was stunned by this, butafterwards, I was able to decipher alarge number of other words. For everyword that is missing in their spokenvocabulary, there is a correspondingsmell to take its place. There are smellsfor objects, places, persons, animals,and even emotions. Apparently, theoriginal language of the troglodyte wasentirely olfactory, and the verbal com-ponent was only borrowed from the

3. Because smell is such an important part oftroglodyte sensory input, the arrange their lairs tofacilitate the distribution of important scents. Cavesare selected or modified so that the primary direc-tion of air circulation is from the main entrancetowards other, smaller exits and air vents, so thatthe foreign scents of intruders will be wafted to thedefenders almost immediately. The savagery thattroglodyte display when attacking humans has leadsome to assert that they hate humanity, but the sit-uation is actually the opposite. Humans smell andtaste especially savory to troglodyte (human scentsbeing used as superlatives when discussing othermeats in the troglodyte scent-language), causingthem to react with particular vigour and violencewhen those scents are sensed.

4. It is because of this avoidance of fire that

troglodyte are generally armed with stoneweapons, and that they raid the communities ofother races in order to get worked metals for them-selves. They are incapable of forging their ownmetal weapons, as their infravision is blinded by thesearing heat of a forge.

Instead, they make most of their weapons bystone-chipping, an activity they can accomplish withminimal light and a keen sense of touch. Theirjavelins are all wood except for the head which theymake from sources as diverse as well-crafted humanspears and points broken off of daggers. The javelinsare not spectacular of themselves (in fact, they looksomewhat crude in many cases), but troglodyte areso skilled with this weapon that trogs have bonusesboth to hit and in damage with them.

It is also because they cannot process their own

steel that its possession is considered a sign of sta-tus and power within their communities; as the onlyway they can get metal is through combat (whatwould they offer in trade?), its possession is a signof a warrior’s prowess.

5. While magical translation aids, such asComprehend Languages or Tongues spells, canmake the spoken words of intelligent creaturesunderstandable to the caster, they do not give himany new communicative abilities he did not previ-ously possess. In the case of communicating withtroglodyte, a human spell-caster doesn’t gain animproved sense of smell from casting aComprehend Languages spell, nor can the spell’smagic invent new words to cover concepts unfamil-iar to the caster, such as the thousands of variationsof scent that only a troglodyte can differentiate.

82 NOVEMBER 1996

lizard man in order to give them someform of ability to communicate withthose outside of their own race.6

“Once I had firmly grasped this con-cept, and had learned enough of it toform a base for a new treatise ontroglodytian conversation, I made readyto abandon my host’s body and returnto my own, safe in the woods outside.Even more stunning than the discoveryof the secret of the troglodyte languagewas the realization that I couldn’t extri-cate myself from my host! There is atime-limit involved in the use of the cog-nitive conveyance such that it becomesprogressively more difficult to end thespell as time goes on. And I had appar-ently been so engrossed in the wondersof troglodyte sensibilities and society,that I had failed to keep track of thepassing hours; I was trapped.”7

“Hey, the smell’s getting worse,”exclaimed the heckler, “I think he’sbrought the worst part of the troglodytecave back with him to prove his sillystory.”

“If you think that this speech is merelyan attempt to authenticate some claimeddiscovery,” responded another of his fel-lows, “then you’re a greater fool thanFarrand is about to reveal himself to be.”

“At first, I didn’t panic. I merelypaused for a few moments to renew mymental energies, and then tried again toescape my prison, but to no avail. As myrepeated efforts proved fruitless, Ichanged the direction of the task I setmyself. Instead of trying to escape myhost, I tried to invade him entirely, hop-ing to take over the mind and body Ihad passively shared up until thatmoment. I spent more than a few frus-

trating days trapped voiceless and bodi-less within the beasts mind and at timesit felt like he would eject me from hismind to go none-know-where, but Ifinally succeeded; I became the mind ofFarrand Two-Spell, saddled with thebody of a troglodyte named Rose-BoiledCabbage-Mild Skunk.

“This accomplished, I exited the com-plex (incidentally called Roses InProfusion by the troglodyte, from whichall of the tribe members drew part oftheir name; the field of roses cultivatedoutside the cavern being a signpost andbeacon for the benefit of travellingtroglodyte), to retrieve my body, returnhome, and solve this new predicament.

“The journey was more difficult thanone would readily imagine. While mytroglodytian body could see well


6. This scent language is central to thetroglodyte, and apparently evolved from suchbasics as the similarity of scents within a clan orfamily, the easily identifiable scents of fear and pas-sion, and the common animal ability of trackingother animals by the foreignness of the other’ssmell.

Among troglodyte, the scent-language is so ver-satile that it takes precedence over all other forms ofcommunication. Guards cry out alarms in a shrillolfactory “voice” without making a sound, therebyalerting other troglodyte within smell range (about20’ away per round as the smell drifts, to a maxi-mum of 80’, after which it blends in too well with thebackground scents to be identifiable) without alarm-ing relatively smell-blind humans. In fact, the over-powering stench that can reduce a human opponentto weak-kneed vomiting during combat withtroglodyte, is merely the build up of olfactory battle-cries, combat orders, screams of rage, pain, andhunger, and other smell/phrases which are spo-ken/emitted in such profusion that the combinedsmell overpowers non-troglodyte.

In fact, a similar effect would occur at any timetroglodyte ‘speak’ too fast for the ventilation in theirlairs to accommodate, the equivalent of the noiselevel in a crowded room full of humans, somethingwhich can cause headaches even to the partici-pants. Even a single troglodyte can cause such abuild-up of smells, if he is kept in a poorly ventilat-ed area for extended periods of time.

When fighting troglodyte place increasinglymore stock in this form of information gatheringrarely making any noise, in order to concentrate onthe immediacy of scent; they pay as much attentionto what they see during combat as humans do towhat they hear. Thus, light would have to be partic-ularity bright (eg: a Light spell cast directly on theireyes) to cause them significant discomfort, and thisdiscomfort is only half what other subterraneanbeings suffer from in similar circumstances (-1 totheir “to hit” rolls and armor class, or no effect if asaving throw vs. spells is successful), causing effectsmore akin to deafness than blindness for a human.

If fighting under conditions in which their senseof smell is overwhelmed (eg: if their opponents havespread skunk oil in the vicinity, or if they’ve set anumber of different things aflame, releasing thickclouds of multi-scented smoke), they will put morestock in their infravision or their weak normal vision,but if anything threatens these senses as well (such asLight or Wall Of Fire spells), they will immediatelyretreat.

As they can easily tell which of their opponentsare the most afraid of them by the fear scents allrelease, they will usually concentrate their attackson the most fearful, which usually proves to be agood tactic as these are also the weakest of theirenemies. (In game terms, the DM should require

Morale rolls when NPCs face troglodyte, not to havethem run away, but merely to determine which isthe most fearful. In the case of player characters,the DM should judge on the basis of known PC abil-ities, and on the reactions of the players.)

Illusions without scent components have noeffect on them in combat and not much in otherconditions. They have +8 on their saving throws vs.illusions without olfactory components under nor-mal circumstances, and +2 on saves vs. those withscent components unless the caster is sufficientlyfamiliar with the scent to duplicate it exactly. An illu-sion of another troglodyte will not be believed underany circumstances if it is not accompanied by scentsproper to the occasion (ie: even a perfectly duplicat-ed battle-scent won’t fool a troglodyte during a non-battle oriented encounter). And even the best illusionof a troglodyte is unlikely to be believed for morethan a few rounds, as the real troglodyte mighteventually begin to wonder why his ‘friend’ is con-stantly repeating the same scent phrases over andover again.

7. For those daring enough to use it, here is thespell that Farrand used to trap himself with:

Farrand’s Cognitive Conveyance(Necromantic)Level: 4Range: 5 feet/levelComponents: V,SDuration: SpecialCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: 1 CreatureSaving Throw: Special

Similar to a magic jar spell, the cognitive con-veyance allows one’s mind to enter the body ofanother creature, but unlike that other spell, it doesnot remove the original “occupant” from his posi-tion. Instead, the caster “shares” the victim’s body,seeing through its eyes, hearing through its earsand even thinking with its brain to a certain extent.This effect is put to a number of uses by spies,scouts, and even the simply curious.

The victim of the spell must be within the listedrange at the time of casting, and as long as the twobodies are both within the casting range, the casterwill be able to see through both sets of eyes at onetime, and can control his own body with someminor difficulty. The caster and his host can moveany distance away from the caster’s body withoutnegative effect, but if separated by more than thespell’s range, he loses all sensory or control contactwith his own body (which goes into a deep comabut is otherwise unharmed) until such time as thebodies re-enter the spell’s range.

The duration of the spell is unlimited, but this isnot an unmixed blessing. As time goes on, the cast-er slowly loses touch with his own body andbecomes more attuned to the body he “rides in”.

Every hour spent sharing another’s mind and bodyremoves the caster 5% from his own body, so thathe will have lost 25% control of his body’s actionsafter 5 hours, and after 20 hours, he will not haveany contact at all with his original body, being fullyintegrated within his hosts consciousness.

The subject/victim of the spell gets no savingthrow to resist it, but in order for the caster to severthe spell and return to his own mind and body, thecaster must make a saving throw, rolling the per-centage of control he retains of his own body orless to return to normal. Thus, after 5 hours in thehosts mind, the caster must roll 75% or less toreturn to his own body; after 20 hours he will findhimself irrevocably trapped.

If this should happen, the caster will find that heslowly (at a rate of about 1% per hour) gains controlof his hosts mind and body. The host will likelyhave been unaware of the casters intrusion untilthis point, but if the trapped caster attempts to flexhis mental muscle, forcing the shared body intoactions the host hadn’t intended, there may be astruggle for control, with the caster having to rollthe amount of control he has or less to take overthe body entirely. If he fails, he loses all control andmust begin working at control from 0% again. Apatient prisoner will wait over four days (i.e. 100hours) without attempting a takeover, thus virtuallyassuring himself victory with a 99% chance of tak-ing over (as a roll of 00 always results in a failure).

If control is established, the hosts mind is noteliminated, it is merely locked securely within themind of the new controller, and the host-turned-prisoner can begin his own attempts to overthrowthe Freeloader, starting at 0% chance, and workinghis way up 1% an hour until he makes his ownattempt at control. The flip-flop cycle of owners cancontinue until either one gives up, or the caster isfinally returned to his own body.

To lose control of your body to an invadingmind is a traumatic occurrence. Thus, any time com-plete control is wrested by one of the two minds,the loser must roll his Wisdom or less on 1d20, orelse be driven insane by the shock. If one of the twocombatants goes insane, the other gains uncontest-ed control of the body, until such time as the insanemind is restored to sanity.

Once a caster has become trapped in the sub-ject’s body, the spell cannot be cancelled by anysimple means such as a dispel magic spell, and thesubjects lifeforce becomes so attached to the hostbody that it is curiously resistant to even a Magic Jarspell. Those concerned speculate that it would takeat least a limited wish to free the conjoined minds.

If the caster manages to gain complete controlof the body, he can treat the body as his own in allways; he will be able to cast spells as per normal,and will possess all his own mental facilities, alongwith the physical capabilities of the body.

DRAGON #235 83

Convention CalendarPolicies

This column is a service to our read-ers worldwide. Anyone may place afree listing for a game conventionhere, but the following guidelinesmust be observed.

In order to ensure that all conven-tion listings contain accurate andtimely information, all materialshould be either typed double-spacedor printed legibly on standard manu-script paper. The contents of each list-ing must be short and succinct.

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NovemberConventions

Ork Con ’96November 1-3 ❁

Panorama Hotel, Amoberen Marienbach 1.Schweinfurt. Special guests:Larry Elmore, Lester Smith,Mike Tinney, Ash Arnett,Brom, Jeff Grubb, KenWhitman, Oliver Hoffman.Events: AD&D® Championship,DRAGON DICE™, Rage* and M:tG*tournaments. Registration: $7/day $18/weekend. RobertMoore, Ruckertstr. 15, D-97421Schweinfurt, Germany.

Corpse Con IIINovember 1-3 TX

Howard Johnson AirportHotel and Convention Center,Corpus Christie. Events: role-playing, card, board, andminiatures games. Otheractivities: Masquerade ball,M:tG tournament, Japan-imation room, and dealersarea. Registration: $10/week-end, $5/day, plus 50¢/game.Game Lords of CorpusChristie, P.O. Drawer 987,Odem, TX 78370.

Novagcon ’96November 2-3 VA

Kena Temple Hall, Fairfax.Events: role-playing, paintingcontest, historical and SFminiature wargaming andcard games. Registration: $8NOVAG members, $10 gener-al admission. Send SASE to:NOVAG, P.O. Box 7158,Reston, VA 22091.

❖ Australian convention❉ Canadian convention❁ European convention

* indicates a product produced by a com-pany other than TSR, Inc. Most productnames are trademarks owned by the com-panies publishing those products. The useof the name of any product without mentionof its trademark status should not be con-strued as a challenge to such status.

Sci-Con 18November 8-10 VA

Holiday Inn ExecutiveCenter, Virginia Beach.Special guests: Larry Elmoreand Melissa Benson, SFauthor Charles Sheffield, andothers. Events: StarfleetBattles*, M:tG and live-actiongames. Other activities: char-ity auction and workshops.Registration: $30 on site.Hampton Roads ScienceFiction Association, Inc., c/oMark Shaffer, P.O. Box 9434,Hampton, Virginia 23670, ore-mail: [email protected] http://www.earthlink.net/~scicon.

Configuration 7November 8-10 OK

University of Oklahomacampus, Norman. Events:AD&D, role-playing, Vampire*Interactive Theater, Conven-tion Suite, and art show.Registration: $9/weekendpass, $9/Vampire pass, $15/for both. War and RolePlaying, 215-A OMU, Box304, 900 Asp Avenue,Norman, OK 73019.

Fields of HonorNovember 8-10 IA

Adventure Lane Inn,Altoona. Contact ScottFriedmeyer, Comics Plus, 6501Douglas Ave., Urbandale, IA50322.

Chimaeracon ’96November 15-16 IN

French Lick Springs Resort,

French Lick. Events: role-play-ing, card, board, and miniaturegames. Other activities: StarTrek Con, dealers, home filmcontest, costume contest andball. Tentative guests: GraceLee Whitney, Bjo Trimble, andNASA. Registration: varies.Send SASE to: Chimaera, P.O.Box 42, West Baden Springs,IN 47469.

Pentacon XIINovember 15-17 IN

Grand Wayne Center,Downtown Fort Wayne.Events: role-playing, RPGA®Network tournaments, col-lectible card games, boardgames, auction, miniaturespainting contest, charity raffle,and art show. Other activities:seminars and computergames. Northeastern IndianaGaming Association, P.O. Box11174, Fort Wayne, IN 46856,or e-mail: [email protected].

Garden State GamesFaireNovember 21-24 NJ

Ramada Inn, East Windsor.Contact Andrew Dawson, 470Ironstone Dr., Boyertown, PA19512.

ShaunCon XXIIINovember 22-24 MO

Holiday Inn, Kansas City.Events: LIVING CityTM, LIVING

JUNGLE™, and LIVING DEATHS™

tournaments, Masters andGrand Masters events. Other


Important:

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To ensure that your convention listing makes it into our files, enclose a self-addressed stamped postcard with your first convention notice; we will return thecard to show that it was received. You also might send a second notice one weekafter mailing the first. Mail your listing as early as possible, and always keep usinformed of any changes. Please do not send convention notices by fax, as thismethod has not proven reliable.

84 NOVEMBER 1996

enough in the light of day, it seemed dif-ficult to recognize landmarks I hadpassed but a few days before. I keptforcing my body to look around forfamiliar sights, while it kept trying tosniff about for smells which might havebeen familiar to Rose-Boiled Cabbage-Mild Skunk, but which would have pro-vided me no guidance at all even if I hadfound any.8

“Due to the sensory difficulties of thetrip, and the fact that my troglodytebody was forced to carry my still-livingbut mindless and failing human body,the one-day trip to my home ended uptaking almost three.

“In my chambers, I pored over thenotes I had made during the creation ofmy cognitive conveyance spell and, unfor-tunately, assured myself of what I hadfeared most during my week-longordeal.”

Indeed, the smell in the closed theatrehad been getting more and more oppres-sive as Farrand’s story went on, and noweven the more forgiving members of hisaudience were starting to take up thehecklers restless muttering. Of a sudden,the lights in the theater lit up, and thescenic illusions that Farrand had beenmaintaining to his right to show his routeto Khanahr faded and disappeared underthe lamp’s onslaught. But surprisingly, theillusion of the troglodyte that had beenstanding to Farrand’s left for the wholelecture seemed no less solid now than ithad before. And Farrand himself seemedoddly awkward as he stood there, movingonly occasionally and jerkily as he spoke.

“Since returning from Roses InProfusion I have tried every spell Ithought would help, but none haveshown any promise or effect. When I firstentered Farrand‘s cognitive conveyance in

the rolls of this Order’s additions tomagecraft, some of you warned meabout the dangers of employing newmagics without proper tests and con-trolled experimentation. I stand beforeyou now, having delivered my pro-grammed illusion, moving and speakingthrough the use of telekinesis and ventril-oquism spells, to offer all of the profitsfrom my upcoming volumes on the lan-guage of the troglodyte to the mage-brother or sister among you who canfree me from this damned, stinking rep-tile’s body and make me again the manI was!”

Spike Y. Jones would like to thank Kimberly F.Marshall, Dale A. Donovan, Roger E. Moore, andMark Goldberg for their help at various stages inthis article’s evolution.

8. Just as troglodyte don’t recognize any written form of their language, they don’t make use of sketched maps. If a troglodyte is to make a trip into a strange region,another, with past experience of the area, will emit an olfactory sketch of the route, describing the succession of scents that the traveller should encounter along the trip;visual landmarks are only used as a supplement to the olfactory, or when they are obvious enough to be used day or night.

86 NOVEMBER 1996

activities: Amber*, Call ofCthulhu*, GURPS*, Necro-munda*, Shadowrun*, StarWars* and many more.Registration: $23 at door, dis-counts for preregistrationand/or RPGKC members.RPGKC, P.O. Box 7457, KansasCity, MO 64116-0157, or sende-mail: [email protected] orweb: http://users.aol.com/RPGKC/RPGKC.html.

Pittsburgh ComiconNovember 23-24 PA

Pittsburgh Expomart,Monroeville. Special guests:John DeLancie, artist WilliamStout, and Marvel/DC artistScott McDaniel. Events: M:tG,Star Wars CCG, charity auc-tions and more. Other activi-ties: free autographs, comicand game sales. Registration:$7 single-day pass. MichaelGeorge, 1002 Graham Ave.,Windber, PA 15963.

SyndiCon �96Nov 29-30, Dec 1 IN

Ramada Inn, Portage.Events: role-playing, cards,comics, miniatures, boardgames, painting contests,and RPGA Network events.Other activities: AD&D ArenaCombat event, Friday the13th, all-weekend PhotoKiller game and interactiverole-playing. Registration:$20 on site. SyndiCon ‘96,P.O. Box 1602, Portage, IN46368.

DecemberConventions

Albuquerque Game FairDecember 6-8 NM

Pinnacle Four SeasonsHotel, Albuquerque. Guests:Margaret Weis, TracyHickman, and artist QuintonHoover. Events: role-playing,card, board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities: RPGAtournament, art show,dealers area, computer room.Registration: varies. AGF ‘96,3422 Central Ave SE,Albuquerque, NM 87106 ore-mail [email protected].

Lagacon 21December 7 PAEagles Hall, Lebanon. Events:role-playing, card, board,and miniatures games. Otheractivities: AD&D tourna-ments, dealer area. Registra-tion: varies. LAGA, 1006Colebrook Rd., Lebanon, PA17042.

DominiconDecember 13-15 ❁

St. Patrick’s CollegeMaynooth Co., Kildare.Events: role-playing, card,board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities: CCGtournaments and more. Regi-stration: £3/day, £5/ week-end. Karl Monaghan, 27Great Oaks, Mullingar, Co.Westmeath, Rep. of Ireland.

January Conventions

Sunquest �97 January 2-5 FL

Marriot Orlando Resort,Orlando. Guests: TimothyBradsteet, Michael Stackpole,and Jay Tummelson. Events:role-playing, card, board, andminiatures games. Otheractivities: Art show, charityauction, M:tG tournament and17 RPGA events. Registration:$20 before December 1, $25on site. Sunquest, P.O. Box677069, Orlando, FL 32867-7069. e-mail: [email protected]. Website: http://www.net/~sunquest

Crusades �97January 10-12 CT

Ramada Inn, Norwalk.Events: role-playing, card,board, and miniaturesgames. Registration: varies.Phillip Spera 2 Sibley Lane,East Haven, CT 06512; [email protected]

Pandemonium XIVJanuary 18-19 ❉

Ryerson PolytechnicalUniversity, Ryerson HubCafeteria Toronto, Ontario.Events: role-playing, card,board, and miniaturesgames. Registration: $25.

until Jan 5, $30 on site.Contact Peter Fund, 118Roncesvalles Avenue #34Toronto, Ontario M6R 2K8,Canada.

Glorantha Con IVJanuary 24-26 IL

Ramada Hotel O’Hare,Rosemont. Events: Call ofCthulhu*, Runequest*, Pen-dragon*, Mythos* and otherrelated games. Guests: GregStafford, Sandy Peterson,and others. Other activities:auction, art show, troll ball,and LARP. Registration: $40.Andrew Joelson, 1330-DGifford Ct., Hanover Park, IL60103-5227. e-mail [email protected].

The 8th Annual FloridaExtravaganzaJanuary 25-26 FL

Orlando Expo Center.Events: role-playing, card,board, miniatures games andcollectible memorabilia.Other activities: M:tG andStar Wars tournaments. Regi-stration: varies. E-mail [email protected].

FebruaryConventions

Constitution VFebruary 14-16 VA

Quality Hotel, Arlington.Events: role-playing, card,board, and miniaturesgames. Other activities:LARP, RPGA, LIVING CITY,M:tG, Clay-o-Rama, and anauction. Registration: varies.Constitution V, 2205 LuzerneAve, Silver Spring, MD. [email protected].

Total Confusion XIFebruary 20-23 MA

Rolling Green Inn,Andover. Events: role-play-ing, card, board, and minia-tures games, Other activities:RPGA, LARP, and more.Registration: $30. pre-regis-tered, $40 on site. TotalConfusion, P.O. Box 403 N.Chelmsford, MA 01863-0403.

* indicates a product produced bya company other than TSR, Inc.

By Lee Bousquet

DRAGON #235 87

Spells of the scaled

by Steve Bermanillustrated by Michael Scott

The ancient amphibious, reptilian,and piscine races and creaturesp re -da ted mank ind by e ras .

Through countless generations spent inoceans, swamps, and underground, theyaccumulated much knowledge andpower. Although most campaigns areset in a time where such beings aredeclining, it would be implausible tobelieve that magic unknown to the“warm bloods” had never been practicedduring those centuries so long ago.

And so below are some new spells tobe used by the scaled. Though thesemagics are presented in a format muchlike wizardly magic, they could be usedby nonhuman priests and shamans asthey try to reclaim the past glory of theirrace. Or simply just survive in a chang-ing world.

Nearly all of these spells have a dura-tion that is dependent on the Hit Die ofthe casting creature. In those instanceswhere a humanoid may have a level(such as in a troglodyte shaman), theDM should use that figure instead.

A DM can easily substitute thesespells for the magic or special abilitiespossessed by a scaled creature, speciallythe more intelligent races like nagas andyuan-ti. Such substitutions provide a sur-prise to those adventurers who, throughexperience or research, think that theysuch creatures are not a challenge tothem anymore. Won’t those “warmbloods” be shocked?

Barble 1,2

(Alteration)Level: 1Range: 0Components: VDuration: 1 turn/Hit DieCasting Time: 1Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

This spell causes the recipient’s bodyto grow barb les , long, semi-flexiblespines extending from the creature’sscales. The barbles have the effect ofimproving the creature’s Armor Class by2. In addition, the creature may attackwith the barbles in lieu of its normalattack mode, causing 1-6 hp damageon a successful hit. Opponents who arefoolish enough to grapple with a barbledcreature suffer that damage automati-cally each round they are so engaged.

Because of the awkward size of thebarbles (some of which reach over a footin length), the spell recipient may unableto enter some small openings, such asnarrow cave mouths. Also, surroundingobjects may be accidentally caught onthe spines, and the spell recipient isquite limited in his choices of clothingand other equipment worn on the body.For this reason, most of the users of thespell are creatures who wear little cloth-ing and live underwater, where they areless likely to jar the altered scales.Locathah in particular are especiallyfond of this spell.

Serpent Tail 2

(Alteration)Level: 2Range: 0Components: VDuration: 1 round +1 round/Hit DieCasting Time: 2Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: ½

This sinister magic is often used bythe yuan-ti. It transforms the ordinary tailof any reptilian creature into the form ofa snake, complete with fanged head. Aserpent tail provides an additional attack.Unless the creature already could threat-en with its tail, however, it suffers a -2penalty to its THAC0 when attackingwith the serpent tail. The bite of the snakehead causes 1-6 hp damage and injectsa venom that burns like acid in the vic-tim’s veins. On the round after beingwounded, the poisoned creature mustsave vs. poison or suffer 1 hp damagefor each Hit Die of the attacking creature.A successful saving throw vs. poison indi-cates that the victim suffers only halfdamage.

The snake head can do nothing morethan hiss and bite. Magic cast upon itaffects the host creature and vice versa.Some adventurers have claimed thatthey have seen a more fearsome ver-sion of this spell, one that allows the ser-pent tail to detach from its caster andattack independently.

*Camouflage 1,2,3

(Alteration, Abjuration)Level: 3Range: 10 yardsComponents: SDuration: 1 turn/Hit DieCasting Time: 5Area of Effect: 1 creatureSaving Throw: None

Through the use of a camouflage spell,the recipient can alter the coloration ofits hide to match whatever background itrests against. But beyond this change inhue, this spell also slightly alters the hideof the recipient to blend in with the sur-rounding terrain. Thus, in a bed of kelp,the creature develops frond-like exten-sions over its body. If lying on a cavefloor, the scaly hide becomes mottledand bumpy.

All of these physical changes makethe creature nearly impossible to notice.It can surprise an opponent on a 5-in-6;even those beings who are extraordi-narily perceptive (rangers, elves, and soforth) suffer this disadvantage. In addi-tion, the spell lessens the likelihood that

DRAGON #235 89

the concealed creature can be detectedby Divination magic (such as detect invis-ibility or true seeing) to only a 5% chanceper level of the caster.

To gain the benefits of the spell, how-ever the creature must remain quiet andstil l, moving no faster than MV 1.Otherwise it will be noticed.

Sahuagin and locathah shamansoften cast this spell on the tribe’s scoutsbefore they embark on a mission.

Scale blade 1,2

(Alteration, Enchantment)Level: 4Range: TouchComponents: V,MDuration: 1 hour/Hit DieCasting Time: 1 roundArea of Effect: See belowSaving Throw: None

Though this spell is often used by thescaly folk, human wizards and dracon-ian worshipers have rumored to practicesuch magic. The caster must take a scale(the material component) from a suit-able creature’s skin, and from that hecreates a magical weapon that lookslike it was forged from that single scaleand not metal. The length of a scalebladeand the sort of damage it delivers isdependent on the size of the creature itcame from: a dagger is created from M-sized creatures, a short sword from L-sized, and a long sword from G-sizedbeasts; no scaleblade can be crafted froma creature less than Medium sized.

The weapon is considered magicalfor combat purposes, but has no bonus-es to hit or on damage. If the scalebladeis crafted from a dragon, however, thenit does possess a magical ability: an aurathat reflects the breath weapon of thedrake it came from. Thus, a scalebladefrom a red dragon would burn with fire,while one from a green dragon wouldleak fetid fumes. This aura inflicts addi-tional damage equal to the Hit Dice ofthe dragon from which the scalebladewas made. A saving throw is allowed vs.breath weapon, and, dependent onwhat sort of aura is present (fire, cold,poison), bonuses may apply.

This spell can be used on otherscaled creatures that possess magicalabilities (nagas, remorhaz, etc. in whichcase the blade may carry a weakeraura), delivering half the creature’s HitDice in damage with every blow. Again,the victim is entitled to a saving throw tosee whether only half damage from themagical aura is suffered.

At the end of the spell’s duration, the and come alive under the command ofscaleblade crumbles to dust. the caster.

A molting so created appears as aSkin of the Salamander smaller, lighter version of the creature(Evocation, Alteration)* 2, 3 from which the skin came from. In gameLevel: 4 terms, the molting is one size level downRange: 0 from its parent (i.e., a size G dragonComponents: V, M would create a size L molting, and a sizeDuration: 2 rounds +1 round/Hit Die L rock lizard would yield a size M skin).Casting Time: 4 To discover the molting’s statistics,Area of Effect: The caster refer to the chart below:Saving Throw: None Hit Dice: one-half parent’s

Hit Points: one-quarter parent’sSalamen are first credited with the Move: twice parent’s (such creatures

creation of this spell as a part of their can even fly!)religious ceremonies. Since then, a num- AC: 7ber of scaly creatures have either stolen THAC0: Parent’s score -4, minimumor bartered for such knowledge that of 20evokes some of the power from infa- # of AT: Same as parentmous scaled creatures native to the Damage/Attack: T size 1-2Elemental Plane of Fire. S size 1-4

The spell causes the caster’s body to M size 2-5erupt into pale orange flames. While the L size 2-8 (Note that a molting cannotduration lasts, the caster and the per- inflict more damage than its parent crea-sonal items borne by him are resistant ture; in such cases the amount is theto fire, both magical and mundane, and same as parent.)suffer no damage from any such attack. Special Attacks: None

Due to this flaming aura, anything Special Defenses: As parentthe caster touches risks catching fire. Alignment: NeutralPaper, cloth, and volatile liquids are Moltings are affected by magic muchimmediately set alight. Wood burns after in the same way as their parent stock,a full round of exposure (though this except they are immune to any attempttime should be adjusted to consider rel- to charm or beguile.ative thickness). Creatures susceptible to The number of moltings at any onefire suffer 1-10 hp damage from contact time created from a parent’s shed skinwith the immolated caster. cannot be more than half the creature’s

An interesting bit of news coming out Hit Dice. A molting lasts until it is killed orof the northern reaches of the land hints wanders farther than 10 miles from itsthat some ancient white dragons have creator.learned this magic spell, and their use of Sometimes these creations are pur-it comes as a rude awakening to those posely devoured by a hungry or ailingadventurers who see fire as the means reptilian parent, for doing so heals thatfor such beasts’ destruction. creature a number of hit points equal to

those the molting possessed; in suchMoltings cases the molting passively accepts its(Alteration, Conjuration)* 1 fate.Level: 5Range: 20 yardsComponents: V, MDuration: See belowCasting Time: 5 Steve Berman is currently hard at workArea of Effect: 1 skin trying to finish a novel before any of hisSaving Throw: None f r i ends manage to do so . Beyond tha t

This is perhaps the most potent of immediate goal, there’s talk about seizingspells for any scaled creature. As sages control of a Balkan country. Dragons mayand rural folk know, reptiles must molt be involved.their skins in order to grow, and oftenthese sheddings can be found in the ter-ritory if not lair of such animals. Whenthis magic is cast on the shed skin ofany reptilian creature, intelligent or oth- 1. Usable by piscine creatures

erwise, it causes the molting to animate2. Usable by reptilian creatures3. Usable by amphibian creatures

90 NOVEMBER 1996

by Troy Danielsillustrated by Phil Longmeier

f you have ever been the DM of along term campaign, I am sure thatthis—or something very similar —

has happened to you:Game time has rolled around. After sev-

eral hours of grueling work creating the per-fect dungeon encounters for your enthusias-tic players, you are ready. Holding the dooropen for your unsuspecting victims, youwatch as they take up their customaryplaces around the room. Seeing that every-one is comfortable, you march to the table,take your treasured notes (and your seat)and begin.

Things are moving rather smoothly untilyou notice that Robbie has fallen asleep,curled up into a little ball making soundsthat could only be made by a person who'sface is shoved in a vinyl bean bag chair.Samantha has moved off to the kitchenagain and is in search of something to drink(and probably something to eat as well).Jessica and Kevin (the lovebirds of thegroup) have retired to their own little world,whispering softly to one another. You rollyour eyes as Jessica giggles at some wittyremark. Poor George, too, has fallen victimto the Sandman, the only differencebetween him and Robbie is that rather thansnore, he is wheezing.

Did you do something wrong? Is thisa silent revolt? Have you failed as aDungeon Master? Is there life after role-playing rejection?

This example is probably a worst-casescenario; however, I am also sure thatyou can identify with one or more pointsin the above text. There are ways toavoid this horrible fate. One of them isPhysical Dungeon Mastering (PDMing).

There are several key rules to the artof PDMing.

Let’s getphysical

FocusingIn the above example, there was no

focus. Focus in this context is defined asthe group as a whole concentrating onone central person, namely you. The eas-iest way of accomplishing this is to gath-er everyone up and have them sit at atable. Having an entire adventuring com-pany spread out over your living room isbound to cause trouble, not only for yourgame, but for your carpet as well (forsome reason, gamers spill more liquidsthan any other group I have ever met).Bringing the group together not only uni-fies the group, but makes them moreaccessible to Physical DMing.

Another aspect of Focus that can befixed is those darn refreshments. Iunderstand that soda and those chipsare needed when you are sitting downfor a long period of time as most gamersdo. But having one of your players awayfrom the table (and the action) breaksup the group focus and can sometimesruin the setting and atmosphere. Forexample:

The encounter is going well. The party hasjust dropped through a pit trap into the evilLich Nebular’s lair. As the lich approaches, hecasts a spell, freezing most of the party.Down, injured and in some cases held, thingslook rather grim for our hearty adventurers.Suddenly a voice cries out from the darkness:“Hey! Who wanted the cola and who wantedthe root beer?”

f e w m o m e n t s b e f o r e t h egame collecting refreshments. Put themby the gaming table so that the playersdo not have to go any where to getthem. Have one of the players bringover a bag of ice and fill up the cooler.Putting the drinks out ensures that thePCs will not have to make the trek to therefrigerator for that pause that refreshes.(Now if we could only figure out a wayto eliminate bathroom breaks ...)

Something else that can help tomaintain focus is preparing the roomitself. Lighting in the room itself can bedimmed with the main illumination onthe table the gaming will be done on.Another lamp could be sat on a smalltable beside the main on. This is thetable that you, the PDM will be usingduring the game to keep your clutter offthe playing area. By bringing light to thetable and dimming the lights elsewhere,you bring the focus of the room inward.This helps to eliminate some of the dis-tractions in the room and bring thegroup’s attention on the game at hand.

Once we have acquired Focus, wecan concentrate on keeping it. Thatfinally brings us to Physical DMing andthe next key.

MovingThe “track” is the area encircling the

table. PDM’s hardly ever sit, spendingmost of their time walking around thetable or standing where their chairwould normally be. This accomplishestwo goals.

Your players have to follow youvisually in order to know what is goingon. This is important so that you keepthe PCs’ attention. By standing, you raisetheir eye level higher than they are usedto. The PCs are more likely to track youwith their eyes rather than track that lastnacho chip in the bowl.

It puts you in the action. You actu-ally get in the action with the character

DRAGON #235 91

because you are right beside them. Thisalso gives you the opportunity to dothings like this:

Robbie’s character (the thief in thegroup) has just walked into a room inNebular’s dungeon. A very faint smell is inthe air, almost too faint to be noticed.Standing behind Robbie, you look over hisshoulder and notice his ObservationProficiency score is a 12. In a quite voice youask, “Robbie, roll a d20 for me please.”Robbie looks at you, wondering what youare up to. “Uhm ... Why? Is there a trapnearby?”

“Just roll the die please.” Robbie nervouslyrolls the die. Nine.

Robbie the Thief notices somethingstrange in the air. Sniffing with caution, thecaustic odor of acid burns his nostrils.Looking about, he spies a large pool of agreenish substance he recognizes from pastadventures. Being careful to avoid the greenslime, he continues.

This is also an excellent tactic forthose secret saving throws. Instead ofwriting down info at the beginning ofthe game or asking the player to handyou their sheet, you are there and theaction is personal, between you and theplayer. Not only does this give them asense of being the focus of this segmentof the evening, it also gives you, thePDM the chance to act, and react in amore personal and social manner withyour players.

The next part might take some get-ting used by your players. If you havenot done Physical DMing before youmight want to warn the more skittishplayers that you are trying somethingnew. This way they are ready (or at leastthey think that they are) for what is tocome.

Getting Physical with your playersdoes not mean that the next time theirplayer characters are attacked by a fear-some fighter, you jump the nearest play-er and wrestle him to the floor. It doesmean that you might want to try the fol-lowing two sample tactics:

When the party hears those sud-den “Crashes,” have a box of empty cansnearby. Picking it up and dropping it issure to get the attention of even themost involved lovebird or sleeper.

When role playing an NPC who istalking to the party in anger or in anemphatic manner, slam your hand onthe table when the NPC is trying tomake a point. You are adding emphasisto your statements and bringing the

character to the PC's. By doing this, youbring the character to life and alsoinsure that the players are going to lis-ten to his words.

Emphasis on character is very impor-tant and can be used by the PDM to cre-ate truly memorable NPC. Those shop-keepers who are constantly movingaround the room straightening thingsup are often annoying. The mayor whopaces with his hands behind his backbefore the party that he is addressinglooks quite official. And let’s not forgetthe informant who is always wringinghis hands and looking over his shoulder.These are the people that players aregoing to attach names too. These arethe NPCs the players are going toremember. By presenting them in aphysical manner, you make sure thatthe point of the NPC being there is madein a way that will cause the characters toreact the next time this particular personshows up.

ActingTake an afternoon and go downtown

or to the mall. Just sit down and watchas people walk. You will begin to noticethat just about everyone strolls just a bitdifferently. You will also see that you cantell a lot about a person just by the waythat they walk. Armed with this informa-tion, approach your Track and Actingwith a new eye toward the NPC. A fewnotable examples:

The PCs are approached by ayoung fighting bravo, intent on provinghis worth to the group. Chest puffed outand arms swinging smartly at his side,he struts toward the party full of hubrisand pride.

Doddering old wizards do not nim-bly hop, skip, and jump over every obsta-cle that is in their way. Shuffling feet andputtering along are more their style.

The third part of Physical DMing isacting. I don’t mean combat. That isdangerous and someone can get hurt.But there are other things that the play-ers can do that will not only keep theirinterest in the game, but also serves tohelp them visualize their environment.

Perhaps the best example that I canoffer is the trapped (or not trapped)door:

The characters have fought long andhard and now stand before a large, ironbound door. The PDM motions for the play-ers to move to where he is standing, in frontof a closed door right there in the livingroom. Handing the thief of the party a sim-

ple pen, he stares briefly at the space right infront of the door. After a moment, he stops.Turning to Robbie the player, he asks,“Show me what your character is doing topick the lock.”

Robbie looks at the door, and then hiseyes slowly drift to the area on the floor thatthe DM had paid so much attention to just amoment ago. Cautiously, he approaches theentrance and stands several feet away.Bending at the waist (and careful not totouch the area in front of the door) hebegins to poke at the lock.

Poor Robbie. Once more the center ofattention, he is also performing anaction that his character would bedoing. What this does is bring the grouptogether once more to attempt to solvea perceived problem. It also serves tocreate what is called “player paranoia”By setting them up with the pretensethat there is some sort of trap in front ofthe door, they will be extra careful withthis. This also allows the characters thechance to do things that their PCs wouldnot normally think of doing. For exam-ple, this would be a great time to checkfor secret doors or traps on the otherwalls.

Remember, you are providing anenvironment that the players are explor-ing. If your environment is a monotonereading of boxed text, then your playerswill be a monotone group of one-dimen-sional adventurers. By becoming anPDM, you bring alive the characters andthe action that make any role playinggame something more. You make itentertaining. And when it comes rightdown to it that is what you are there todo in the first place, right?

Troy Daniel lives in Hilliard, Ohio. He isalso known as TSR0 Thar, in which role heplays traffic cop in the TSR area on AmericaOnline.

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I feel better now. of the Dragon Storm box says: “This is aI admit, I was worried. Mighty worried. role-playing game.” Hmm...)

Call of Cthulhu game

At last year’s GEN CON® Game Fair, I was But as for RPCs — the real ones, notsupplement

proclaiming to anyone who’d listen that the card game wannabes — they were192-page softcover book

the rumors of role-playing’s imminent crawling out of the woodwork, and IPagan Publishing $20

death were based on hysteria, an over- staggered out of the convention hallDesign: Scott Aniolowski, Carrie Hall,

reaction to the onslaught of card games with more than I could carry. Are theySteve Hatherley, Alan Smithee, John T.

that threatened to swallow up every any good? Too soon to tell. We’ll be sort-Snyder, and John Tynes

nickel in the gaming community and ing through them over the next coupleEditing: Alan Smithee and John Tynes

leave the RPG biz gasping on the shore of months and find out. (An earlyIllustrations: John T. Snyder, Dennis

like a suffocating carp. But inside, I was favorite: the Deadlands* game, an oddityDetwiller, and Daniel Gelon

nervous. There were, after all, only two from Pinnacle Entertainment that mixesCover: John T. Snyder

RPC releases of any consequence last Gunfight at the O.K. Corral with Tales From The Londonyear: the Everway* game from Wizards of the Crypt). But if quantity counts — and it Guidebookthe Coast, and the BIRTHRIGHT® setting forthe AD&D® game (both of which werecovered in DRAGON® Magazine issue #224).No amount of spin doctoring couldchange the fact that this did not bodewell for the future of RPGs.

Role-playing games' ratingsNot recommended

May be useful

FairGood

ExcellentThe BEST!

Call of Cthulhu gamesupplement

96-page softcover bookChaosium Inc. $15Design: Lucya Szachnowski and Gary

O’ConnellEditing: Lynn WillisIllustrations: Dave CarsonCover: Eric Vogt

But this year . . . ah, sweet relief. Sure,GEN CON ’96 barfed up a bunch of newcard games, but a lot of them struck meas redundant, such as Fleer Skybox’sStar Trek: The Card Game* (not to be con-fused with Decipher’s Star Trek The NextGeneration Card Game*). Others, like theDragon Storm*game, appeared to be suf-fering from an identity crisis. (The back

does — role-playing is in pretty goodshape. It may have taken a hit or two,but it isn’t dead yet.

Speaking of dead, while the playtestcrew pours over the GEN CON releases,what say we catch up on some horrorgames? We’ll look at some nifty stuff forthe Call of cthulhu* game, a deranged lit-tle number from the folks at White Wolf,and a cool new card game. (Hey, I didn’t

In the ShadowsCall of Cthulhu game sup-

plement56-page softcover bookChaosium Inc. $12

DRAGON #235 109

Design: Gary SumpterEditing: Lynn Willis and Eric VogtIllustrations: Dave Carson, Earl Geier,

and Drashi KhendupCover: Eric Vogt

Mythos* game(including the Expeditions

of Miskatonic University,Legends of the Necronomicon,and Cthulhu Rising booster packs)

Starter deck: 60 cards, 32-page rulesbooklet, one double-sided charactercard; booster pack: 13 cards

Chaosium Inc. Starter deck: $9;booster pack: $3

Design: Charlie KrankDevelopment: Sam Shirley, Eric Vogt,

Eric RoweIllustrations: Salvatore Abbinanti, Chris

Adams, Thomas Garrett Adams, StephenBarnwell, Mike Blanchard, Bono Fabio,John Bridges, Dennis J. Calero, TimCallender, Barry Chambers, Alan M.Clark, C. Brent Ferguson, Scott M. Fischer,Earl Geier, Lee Gibbons, Justin Hampton,Ovi Hondru, Andrew T. Kalichack,Michael Kellner, Drashi Khendup, ScottKirchner, Brian Krank-McLean, MeghanKrank-McLean, Todd Lockwood, HeatherMcKinney, Jeff Menges, AngeloMontanini, Lee Moyer, Roger Raupp,Sam Shirley, R. Wayt Smith, John Snyder,Tom Sullivan, Joseph Sutliff, StrephonTaylor, Susan Van Camp, and Jason Voss

I know I’m supposed to be unbiased.But in the interest of full disclosure, youshould know that Call of Cthulhu is my

all-time favorite game and, in my hum-ble opinion, the best RPG ever inventedby man or beast. The reasons are toonumerous to go into here. (But here’s acouple: 1) Cthulhu boasts a near-perfectblend of rules and background, the lat-ter derived from the mind-boggling nar-ratives of horrormeister H.P. Lovecraft. 2)You don’t have to waste a lot of energydeveloping your PC’s personality, sinceit’s only a matter of time before one ofthe Cthulhu cosmic creeps turns hisbrains to mush.)

But the last few years have beenrough on us loyalists. True, Chaosiumhas produced a steady stream of supple-ments: Blood Brothers, The King of Chicago,and Sacraments of Evil, to name a few.And true, for the most part, they’ve beenpretty good. But pretty good isn’t goodenough, considering that in the glorydays — I’m thinking mid- to-late ’80s —virtually every Cthulhu release was amajor event. Expansions like Cthulhu byGaslight and Dreamlands set standards ofquality for the entire industry. More thana decade after their release, adventureslike Spawn of Azathoth and Musks ofNyarlathotep still linger in the memory. Bycomparison, I played The King of Chicagoonly a month ago and can barelyremember what killed me.

But despair not, fellow Cthulhu-ites: Icome bearing good news. If the latestround of supplements is any indication,there may be light at the end of the tun-nel — or maybe I should say, from theback of the crypt.

Ironically, the most ambitious supple-ment in recent memory comes not fromChaosium, but from Pagan Publishing, afeisty small press publisher responsiblefor the outrageous Creatures & Cultists*board game. (For more about their prod-uct line, write Pagan at 4542 18th Ave.NE #4, Seattle, WA 98105-4232.) Inobsessive detail, Golden Dawn examinesa legendary society of Victorian magi-cians called — what else? — the GoldenDawn. Along with the expected history,personality profiles, and locale descrip-tions, the book serves as a springboardfor magic-intensive adventures. That’s amajor departure for Cthulhu, which inthe past has tended to discourage theindiscriminate use of magic.

The sourcebook material, derived inpart from the out-of-print Cthulhu byGaslight, provides a readable account ofall things Golden, from the member-ship’s favorite hang-outs (the vaults ofLondon’s Thavies Inn make a goodplace to consecrate talismans) to their

current concerns (investigating rumorsof invisible immortals, exploring theastral plane). The personnel roster canbe used as a source of allies and adver-saries; occult scholar Samuel LiddellMathers might become a player charac-ter’s mentor, while misanthropic physi-cian Edward Berridge would make agood serial killer.

Of course, the PCs themselves mayopt to join the Golden Dawn. The Outerand Inner Order Curriculum sections tellhow players should adjust their pointtotals to qualify their PCs for member-ship. Players may also expend points toestablish relationships with prominentnon-player members, such as AleisterCrowley and the aforementioned Dr.Berridge. But the real benefit of member-ship comes from learning the Dawn’ssecret rites, which give access to extraor-dinary power. The Hexagram Ritual, forexample, enhances the caster’s ability tosummon and bind extraterrestrial enti-ties. Astral Travel enables the user tosoar through the astral plane. The rites,however, are not without risk. Travelersin the astral plane may encounter a raceof mind munchers called astral parasites.As Cthulhu veterans know, summonedentities are not only hard to control, theyhave a tendency to swallow their sum-moners.

The book wraps up with four terrificscenarios. They’re not particularly easyto run — my notes for “The RoomBeyond” ate up almost as many pagesas the scenario itself — but they’reloaded with memorable scenes.Consider this excerpt from “La Musiquede la Nuit”: “Dazed and confused, theYaddithian Ktaubo emerged from itslight-wave envelope. The air was still hotwith crackling electricity, and brilliantblue-green sparks danced and archedalong the twisted and discolored hull ofthe alien’s machine.” Though it’s aimedat a narrow range of players — experi-enced, literate, and history-minded —Golden Dawn remains an impressive pro-duction.

Two of Chaosium’s recent releasescomprise a score and a snore. First, thesnore. Like its predecessor, CairoGuidebook (reviewed in DRAGON Magazineissue #227), London Guidebook providesa plethora of cultural and historical infor-mation intended to help Keepers stagerealistic adventures. Westminster,Mayfair, and other London districts areexamined in depth, as are the city’sclubs, hospitals, and transportation sys-tems. But the useful material — a blue-

110 NOVEMBER 1996

print of the Houses of Parliament, thehistory of the British Museum — can befound in any good library. The not-so-useful material — the date of the ChelseaFlower Show, the length of London’shydraulic power pipes — is interestingtrivia, but it’s trivia nonetheless. Worse,the designers don’t do much to tie thematerial into the Cthulhu Mythos,beyond an occasional suggestion ofsupernatural activity (“[The HighgateCemetery] has fallen into disuse, and it islikely that ghouls have taken residence.”)London Guidebook succeeds on its ownterms, but before you invest, make sureyou know what you’re getting.

Happily, In the Shadows fares muchbetter. A collection of three ready-to-runscenarios, it’s old-fashioned in the bestsense, employing the classic archetypes,adversaries, and plot twists that havemade Cthulhu so durable. “Devil’s Hole”pits the Investigators against a pool ofanimated slime, a monstrosity fromouter space, and a “loathsome blob ofropy, green, pustulant flesh” called theThing in the Barrel. “In the Shadows ofDeath” takes place in a corpse-riddenLouisiana plantation. “Song of theSpheres” tells a shuddery tale of mad-ness and murder in New England, with alittle Italian opera thrown in for goodmeasure. All three are novice-friendly,making In the Shadows a great way toget a new campaign off the ground.

I have only two gripes with Shadows.1) What’s with the graphics? Chaosiumhasn’t done much to change the look oftheir books in 15 years, and it’s time foran upgrade. I suggest that the artdepartment spend an evening or two

with a stack of White Wolf products, par-ticularly material for the Vampire: TheMasquerade* game, and see how it’sdone. 2) Whose bright idea was it toscatter the player handouts throughoutthe book instead of collecting them allat the end? Since about 30 pages havehandouts on them, that means you’vegot to photocopy nearly half the text.Does Chaosium own stock in Xerox?

As for Mythos, the Cthulhu card game,a little birdie told me to reserve judgmentuntil the first batch of boosters hit thestores, and darned if the birdie wasn’tright. The basic game, it should be noted,is nothing to sneeze at. Each playerassumes the role of an Investigator whoundertakes a mission outlined on one ofseveral adventure cards. InvestigatorOne, for instance, might have to trans-late a mysterious book belonging to hislate uncle (“The Curious Parcel”), whileInvestigator Two might have to explorean abandoned mansion (“The HauntedHouse”). To complete his adventure —and win the game — the Investigatormust put into play a specific set of cards;“Curious Parcel” requires one Tome card,one Spell, one Library, one Cemetery,one Gate, and two Allies.

On his turn, the Investigator plays oneof 13 cards in his hand, each of whichrepresents a different element of a devel-oping story; a Location card represents asite he wishes to explore, an Ally repre-sents a potential companion. When bothInvestigators pass (by declining to deploynew cards), combat ensues. They attackeach other with Monster cards: FireVampires, Rat Things, Flying Polyps.Damage is taken as a loss in sanity. If anInvestigator’s sanity reaches zero, he’sout of the game.

It’s a snap to learn; one trip throughthe rulebook — okay, two — and you’reon your way. The variety of Adventuresensures a different challenge in everygame. Best of all, Mythos captures all ofthe elements that make Call of Cthulhu somuch fun. It’s appealingly low tech;Investigators arm themselves with shot-guns and dynamite, and travel from siteto site on foot. All of the memorableLovecraft themes — forbidden tomes,hazardous spells, garish creatures — arefirmly in place. And as in the RPG, playercharacters rarely die; they just go crazy.

The basic game, however, prettymuch confines the players to the north-eastern United States. And that’s why youneed the booster packs. By sending theInvestigators around the world, the boost-ers more accurately represent the scope

of the RPG. Expeditions of MiskatonicUniversity includes Stonehenge, the BritishMuseum, and the Catacombs of Rome.Cthulhu Rising adds Easter Island and theLost Temple of Atlantis. Legends of theNecronomicon incorporates the Mosque ofAmr in Cairo and the Sphinx of Giza. Theentire collection’s first-rate, but if you’re ona budget, I recommend a pair of starterdecks and a handful of Risings. Not onlydoes Rising have the best sites, it also fea-tures Cthulhu himself — uh, itself.

Evaluation: The success of Mythoshas enabled Chaosium to finance a line-up of promising new products, includingthe long-awaited (long-awaited by me,anyway) update of Masks of Nyarlathotep.Meanwhile, Cthulhu-ites can keep theirtentacles a-tingling with the essential InThe Shadows. Enterprising players mighttake a look at Golden Dawn. And ifyou’re a completist, go ahead andsplurge on London Guidebook. Mythos isa convincing simulation of a world-classrole-playing game. But make no mistake— it’s only a simulation. Enjoy the cards,but for heaven’s sake, don’t neglect theRPG. A gamer who’s never played Call ofCthulhu is like a rock fan who’s neverheard the Beatles.

Chronicle of the BlackLabyrinth

Werewolf: The Apocalypse*game supplement

104-page softcover bookWhite Wolf Game Studio $11Design: Sam InabinetDevelopment: Bill BridgesEditing: Laura PerkinsonIllustrations: Ron Brown, Mike Chaney,

Matt Milberger. John Cobb, AndrewMitchell Kudelka, and Larry MacDougall

Cover: uncreditedHere’s an abridged section of “On the

Road with Chucko the Monkeyboy,” thefinale of Chronicle of the Black Labyrinth:

chuck: wut the ole man dont no aintgonna hert him nun! Gowan! with our com-pliments! i got plenny more wair that cumfrom.

polise ofiser: wel yu fokes be cairful then.i suspek one of the deputeez in this nex townis ordor of the roze, but i aint pegged with ifis yet. giddown!

chuck: thanky much and yu hav a niseday sir!

This, to put it mildly, isn’t your typicalrole-playing supplement.

When it comes to content, WhiteWolf has about the same batting aver-age as every other publisher. Some oftheir books are terrific, some are so-so,

112 NOVEMBER 1996

some are what-were-they-thinking. Butnobody, I mean nobody matches WhiteWolf in presentation. Their anarchic for-mats and wild experiments with color,fonts, and even paper texture haveredefined the look of role-playing.Consider, for instance, the surreal illus-trations gracing the Mage: The Ascension*game, the rainbow pages of lmmortalEyes (a fairy tale from hell for theChangeling: The Dreaming* game), andthe fiction/sourcebook hybrid of theBook of the Kindred (a sensual assault forVampire: The Masquerade). The WhiteWolf-ers aren’t just pushing the enve-lope; they’re shoving the envelope off amountain.

Black Labyrinth is a pinnacle of sorts,an RPG supplement that goes out of itsway to flaunt its eccentricity. Ostensibly acollection of works inspired by anoccultist named Frater — who’s sort of across between Indiana Jones and CharlesManson — Labyrinth serves up a dizzyingmix of journal excerpts, personal mem-oirs, and psychotic ramblings. It’s breath-taking. It’s infuriating. And you’ve neverseen anything like it.

The material is tied, albeit loosely, tothe Wyrm and other key concepts inWerewolf The Apocalypse. Kernels ofhard information are hard to come by,but they’re in there, and they’re fasci-nating. A centurion’s diary reveals thesecrets of the serpent folk, an ancientrace of fiends with connections to thePicts. The Table of Cardinal Essences liststhe totems of the Eater of Souls and theservitors of the Essence of Sludge. TheGrades of Initiation section explainshow to attain the various ranks withinthe Black Spiral organization, useful tosocial-climbing Garou.

Black Labyrinth, however, is mostlyabout mood, and it evokes an atmos-phere that’s genuinely disturbing. Areproduction of Cloven Hoof Magazinerecounts the exploits of ProfessorWayland Webley and his descent intoinsanity. A document from the HarleianMuseum recounts the grotesque ritualsassociated with the Church ofDamburrow. As for the Monkeyboy sec-tion, I’m not sure what it means, but tellthe truth — didn’t the chunk quotedabove kinda give you the creeps? It’s allpretty much like that: vague, eerie, com-pelling. Reading BIack Labyrinth mademe feel like I’d slipped into anotherworld, a world drenched in death anddespair. More importantly, it made mewant to haul Werewolf out of the closetand give it another try.

Evaluation: For sheer originality,Black Labyrinth deserves six pips. But as arole-playing aide, it’s no better than atwo-pipper, considering that much of itborders on the incomprehensible. Onother hand, Werewolf isn’t about combatstats and attribute bonuses, its aboutpassion and ambiance; for true believ-ers, incomprehensibility is part of thegame’s charm. In that sense, BlackLabyrinth deserves . . . geez, this is drivingme nuts. Let’s give it four pips and getthe heck out of here. If you’re a con-noisseur of the bizarre, Black Labyrinthbelongs in your library, even though itslikely to make your other books recoil indisgust. But as Chucko the Monkeyboymight say, “It dont no aint gonna hert yanun.*

Short and sweetPulp Dungeons: The Forsaken Elves,

Pulp Dungeons: An Infestation of Kobolds,Pulp Dungeons: Dwarf Hold and PulpDungeons: Orc’s Lair, all by TimothyBrown. Destination Games, $4 each.

If you lament the scarcity of low-level, smartly designed RPG adventures,lament no more. The four self-containedfantasy scenarios in the Pulp Dungeonsseries serve up enough tricky encoun-ters, engaging opponents, and convolut-ed death traps to tickle the fancy of themost demanding dungeon crawler. Thebest of the bunch, Dwarf Hold, sends theparty though a secret door in a granite’cliff and into a creature-strewn maze.Forget about rich plots and lavish pro-duction values; these are strictly no-frillsthrillers. And since they’re generic innature, they can be adapted to any RPGsystem, including those associated withdragons and, er, dungeons. (Infor-mation: Destination Games, PO Box1345, Lake Geneva, WI 53147.)

The North: Guide to the SavageFrontier, by Slade, Ed Greenwood, JeffGrubb, Julia Martin, Paul Jaquays, StevePerrin, Jim Butler, and Steven Schend.TSR Inc., $25.

Here in Iowa, we’re gearing up forwinter, which tends to arrive with all thesubtlety of a sledge hammer. To get inthe mood, I’ve been perusing The North,which couldn’t have portrayed a sub-zero environment more vividly if it’dbeen etched in ice cubes. Though itskimps a bit on adventure hooks, thisextravagant boxed set describesFrozenfar, the Neverwinter Woods, anda host of other frosty locales in chillingdetail. If you’re one of those wimps who

sits out the winter in Florida, check outThe North) and see what us real men areup against.

Ironwood, by David Berkman, AaronCrosten, Travis Eneix, Andrew Finch, andAnthony Gallela. Backstage Press, $27.

The Theatrix* game, a diceless univer-sal RPG system reminiscent of theGURPS* game, didn’t impress me muchthe first time around. Although I likedthe goofy tone and the emphasis onstorytelling, the improvisational tone ofthe rules made it tough to run. But if allthe supplements prove to be as good asIronwood, I might break down and playit again. Based on the undergroundcomic book by Bill Willingham, lronwoodpresents a magic-saturated settingcalled Avalon that’s one part monstermovie, one part Monty Python. Unicornsand storm giants roam the treacherousterrain, as do bugbears, hell hounds,and dinosaurs — in other words, ifyou’ve ever seen it in a fantasy game,you can probably find it here. Playercharacters can be anything from vam-pires to elves to weremuskrats and canlearn to cast spells like skeletal servitorand wither limb. The whimsical magicalitems are especially fun; the Sunbrellaprojects a field of darkness, and theFriendly Coat Rack not only takes yourhat, but hangs it neatly upon itself. Evenif I never get around to exploringIronwood (which, incidentally, isn’t suit-able for children because of someexplicit material), I might arrange for theFriendly Coat Rack to show up in anAD&D campaign. (Information:Backstage Press, PO Box 170243, SanFrancisco, CA 94117.)

The Book of Exploration, by DianePiron-Gelman, Greg Gordon, David R.Henry, Angel Leigh McCoy, Jim Nelson,Andrew Ragland, and Rich Warren. FASACorporation, $10.

The second volume in the Legendsseries presents another set of tales andfables derived from the mythos of theEarthdawn* game. “Carrul and theTherans” describes the flight of aBarsaive airship. “An Ancient Mysterytells of a quest for a rare plant in theMist Swamps. Well-written and tightlyedited, they go down as easy as potatochips. Still, despite the section of gamematerial at the end, this is essentially acollection of short stories. So why notpublish it as a paperback book andknock the price down few bucks?

DRAGON #235 113

Heroes’ Lorebook, by Dale Donovanand Paul Culotta. TSR, Inc., $20.

A update of 1989’s Hall of Heroes sup-plement for the FORGOTTEN REALMS® set-ting, this data-packed encyclopedia pro-files 61 of the AD&D game’s most emi-nent characters. Each entry providescomplete statistics, background informa-tion, and campaign notes, drawn fromnovels and game products publishedthrough the end of 1995. With so muchhistory to digest, casual players may feeloverwhelmed. But if you take theRealms seriously, and names like Aliasand Drizzt Do’Urden make your pulsequicken, welcome to nirvana.

Eurosource Plus, by Jose Ramos,Florian Merx, and Steve Gill. R. TalsorianGames, $18.

A good, not great, supplement for theCyberpunk* game, Eurosource Plus suffersfrom the same shortcomings as guide-books like Pacific Rim. Namely, it tries totackle too much of the planet. It’s hardto cover the economy, politics, andgeography of Italy in less then threepages. Spain and Bulgaria get about twopages each. Portugal gets about one.The concepts are solid; the Germansports clubs and the Dreampainters ofFrance are admirable additions to theCyberpunk universe. But a narrowerfocus would’ve allowed the designersmore room to breathe. Next time,instead of another Eurosource, howabout something along the lines ofPortugalsource?

Material World* game, by KentMitchell and Alexis Papahadjopoulos.Strange Magic Games, $30.

A cousin of the Civilization* andDiplomacy* board games, this engagingeconomic simulation casts players asmonarchs of England, France, Germany,Russia, and the Ottoman Empire. Byexpending resources like wheat and tim-ber, the monarchs build caravans,galleons, and trains to establish traderoutes around the world. Trade routesbring in coffee, carpets, and other trea-sures. Whoever accumulates the biggesttreasure hoard wins the game. Victorydepends on careful resource allocationand chess-like timing, making the gamevirtually luck-free. Material World hasnothing to do with role-playing, butsince it allows you to conquer the plan-et by acquiring coffee and carpets, Iguess it qualifies as fantasy. (Informa-tion: Strange Magic Games, 2529College Ave., Berkeley, CA 94704.)

Og* game, by Aldo Ghiozzi. WingnutGames, $8.

Yes, it’s real. Og bills itself as a role-playing game of “senseless prehistoriccombat,” which is close to a perfectdescription. To build your caveman PC,you roll six-sided dice to determinescores for Strength, Brains, and threeother attributes, then pick a few skillslike Fire Starting and Picture Writing.Armed with Short Pointy Things andBent Sticks That Come Back, the PCsventure into the wilderness to do battlewith Hairy Cave Things and Hairy TreeThings. Throughout, the players mustcommunicate with each other usingonly a 17-word vocabulary. Thus, if a PCwants to kill a gorilla, the player tells hiscomrade, “You, me bang Hairy TreeThing.” Me like play bone head. You likeplay bone head, too? (Information:Wingnut Games, PO Box 1714,Burlingame, CA 94011.)

Rick Swan has written for Writer’sDigest, Wizard, and the Marion CountyPork Peddler. You can contact him at 262030th Street, Des Moines, IA 50310. Enclose aself-addressed envelope if you’d like a reply.

* indicates a product produced by a companyother than TSR, Inc. Most product names are trade-marks owned by the companies publishing thoseproducts. The use of the name of any product with-out mention of its trademark status should not beconstrued as a challenge to such status.

NOVEMBER 1996

magical and techno-logical powers — andnow it will have them.

$30.00U.S./$25.00CAN./£18.50 U.K.

TSR Product No.:1147

ISBN: 0-7869-0437-2

Dangerous GamesA FORGOTTEN REALMS®

Netheril Trilogy, novel #2by Clayton EmeryDangerous Games is the second book

NEW FOR NOVEMBER

World Builder's GuidebookAn AD&D® accessoryby L. Richard Baker IllWhat AD&D DM has not dreamed of

creating his own gaming world, shapingthe continents and societies to his ownwhim? This guide book is a detailed,step-by-step set of instructions for doingexactly that. Indulge the ultimate fantasy!

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Gates of Firestorm PeakAn AD&D PLAYER ’S OPTION™ adventureby Bruce CordellThis challenging adventure for mid-

to high-level characters uses the fullrange of optional rules presented in thePLAYERS’ OPTION rule books to create theultimate challenge for the dedicatedAD&D game player.

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in a new FORGOTTEN REALMS trilogy thatreturns to the misty past and the lost civ-ilization of Netheril.

Heroes of Steel $5.99 U.S./$6.99 CAN./£4.99 U.K.A DRAGONLANCE®: FIFTH AGE� dramatic TSR Product No.: 8570

supplement ISBN: 0-7869-0524-7by Skip WilliamsThis new addit ion to the A Guide to the Astral Plane

DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE game combines A PLANESCAPE® accessorythe best features of a complete warriorhandbook plus a gripping adventure

by Monte CookClueless berks think the Astral Plane

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A DRAGONLANCE® novelby Margaret Weis & Tracy HickmanSomething happens to stir ancient

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Wizard’sSpell Compendium

An AD&D accessoryby Jon Pickens with L.

Richard Baker IllThe Wizard’s Spell

Compendium containsevery wizard spell for theAD&D game. It is the offi-cial reference book anddefinitive source for bothDMs and players.

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TSR Product No.: 2165ISBN: 0-7869-0436-4

The Doom Brigade The Falcon and the WolfA DRAGONLANCE novel A BIRTHRIGHT Realmby Margaret Weis & Don Perrin novel #5The Doom Brigade is the first novel to by Rich Baker

spin off from the Chaos War depicted in In the world of Cerilia,the international best-seller Dragons of where each ruler is boundSummer Flame. by blood to the land, a

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TSR Product No.: 8380fight for his ancestralkingdom against human

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Netheril: Empire of MagicAn ARCANE AGE� campaign expansion

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by slade TSR Product No.: 3116The distant past of the Realms has dire ISBN: 0-7869-0529-8

need of heroes to master its incredible

116 NOVEMBER 1996

DUNGEON® Adventures #62Cover by Henry Higgenbotham

Dragon’s Delveby Christopher Perkins

An AD&D® adventure for PCs oflevels 3-6.

The Rat Trapby Timothy Ide

An AD&D adventure for PCs oflevels 6-10.

Esmerelda’s Bodyguardby Paul F. Culotta


Wild in the Streetsby Jason Peck


Grimjawsby Jennifer Tittle Stack

A FORGOTTEN REALMS® adventure forPCs of levels 5-7.

Blood on the Plowby Lance Hawvermale

An AD&D SideTreks adventure forPCs of levels 4-6.

The Ghost atWidder Smithersby John Baichtal

An AD&D SideTreks adventure forPCs of levels 1-3.

$4.95 U.S/$5.95 CAN./£1.95 U.K.TSR Product No. 8200-11

UndermountainTrilogy III:StardockA FORGOTTENREALMSDUNGEON CRAWL™adventure

by StevenSchend

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Lord SothA DRAGONLANCE Warriors novel #6by Edo van BelkomThe DRAGONLANCE Warriors Series con-

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from his undergroundlair, and the heroes are the only

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Council of BladesA FORGOTTEN REALMS Nobles novel #5by Paul KiddThis fifth book in the Nobles series

tells a story of court intrigue and swash-buckling adventure.

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Planar PowersA BLOOD WARS™ Trilogy novel #3by J. Robert KingPlanar Powers focuses on the chil-

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The Last Tower: The Legacy ofRaistlin

A DRAGONLANCE: FIFTH AGE dramaticsupplement

by Skip WilliamsThis addition to the DRAGONLANCE :

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Army of the DeadA DRAGON DICE® novel #2by Edo van BelkomCan Alderic marshall his forces

against this latest threat to his home-land’s peace?


Realms of the ArcaneA FORGOTTEN REALMS anthologyThis collection contains all-new sto-

ries of the Realms (and the Arcane Age)by such TSR luminaries as EdGreenwood, Elaine Cunningham, MarkAnthony, and others.


Vinas SolamnusA DRAGONLANCE Lost Legends

novel #1by J. Robert KingAt last the true story of the founder of

the Knights of Solamnia, and author ofthe Oath and the Measure. This is a taleof one man’s quest for honor against alandscape of war and tyranny.


Unless otherwise noted:® designates registered trademarks owned by

TSR, Inc.™ designates trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.©1996 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Dragon® Magazine #236Faith & Hope

Cover by Jeff Easley &Tony Sczcudlo

❖ The Seldarine RevisitedAll about the gods of the elves

and their priests, by Chris Perry.

❖ Elemental Summoning GoneWild

New dangers and powers for DarkSun elemental priests, by Ed Bonny.

❖ Demihuman Priest SpellsA new arsenal of spells for elves,

dwarves, gnomes, and halflings, byRobert S. Mullin.

❖ Demihuman Priest SpellsNew kits for Gothic Earth priests,

by James Wyatt.

Plus “DragonMirth,” “Role-PlayingReviews,” “Forum,” “Knights of theDinner Table,” the return of “Wyrmsof the North,” and more!

$4.95 U.S./$5.95 CAN./£2.95 U.K.TSR Product No. 8113-12

DRAGON #235 117

ClackContinued from page 120

Glorantha resurgentOne of the oldest and best roleplay-

ing worlds returns to prominence start-ing next year, as Chaosium (Albany, CA)and the Italian game publisher Stratelibribegin Gloranthan roleplaying, fiction,and miniatures lines.

This just in . . .

Games Magazine has announcedtheir choice of the DRAGONLANCE®: FIFTH

AGE™ game as their 1996 AdventureGame of the Year. Last year's winnerwas also a TSR product, the popularDragon Dice™ expandable dice game.Chaosium founder and president Greg

Stafford, who developed his fantasyworld of Glorantha starting in 6th grade,introduced it to the gaming hobby in hisearly board games Dragon Pass* (1976)and White Bear and Red Moon* (1977).Glorantha reached full flower in StevePerrin’s RuneQuest* RPG (1977) and ensu-ing supplements (1978-84) beforeChaosium sold RQ to The Avalon HillGame Company (Baltimore) in 1985.Avalon Hill’s support for Glorantha hasbeen uneven, but the world’s rich mix ofhistory, mythic scope, and shamanicmagic has fostered a tight-knit comm-unity of fans in America, Europe, andAustralia.

David Hall, editor of the excellentBritish RQ fanzine Tales of the ReachingMoon, has contracted with Chaosium todevelop a new Gloranthan RPG usingthe mechanics from Stafford’s superbPendragon* RPG. “It is intended to handleeverything from microcampaigning toheroquesting,” says a press release.“Simple mechanics and extensive use ofrunes for the magic system will makethe game accessible to all.”

Chaosium has licensed Stratelibri topublish Gloranthan games in Europeand will coordinate their Americanrelease. Starting next summer, Stratelibriplans two sets of tabletop miniaturesrules (25mm skirmish and 15mm masscombat) plus accompanying lines of fig-ures. “The first full year will include sixGloranthan army books, plus introduc-tory materials describing Glorantha.Board games and other related productsare also planned.”

Australian writers Phil and MarionAnderson, designers of or contributorsto several Call of Cthulhu* game supple-ments (Fearful Passages, Horror on theOrient Express, Cairo Sourcebook), are edit-ing the Gloranthan fiction line. Norelease dates for the fiction or roleplay-ing lines have been set. (Contact: [email protected])

Meanwhile, Avalon Hill is readyingthe RuneQuest game’s fourth edition (176

pages, $20), by Oliver Jovanovic, MikeMcGloin, and others, for release inspring 1997. A companion Adventures inG lo ran tha wor ldbook (200+ pages)appears in summer. AH also plans twoGloranthan scenario books by HaraldSmith and Martin Crim, Edge of Empireand Winds of Deception. These are set inImther, a small provincial kingdom ofthe Lunar Empire, circa 1620 ST.(Contact: [email protected])

Magazine sceneBootstrap Press (Vancouver) has put

its Adventures Unlimited magazine on hia-tus. The magazine will resurface in thefuture, possibly by year’s end, “probablyreformatted and with some differencesin the content,” says Bootstrap’s NicoleLindroos Frein. “We’ll be filling every-one’s subscriptions and are still accept-ing new subscriptions.” Meanwhile,Bootstrap is preparing MARS: Adventuresin Miniature, a science-fiction gamingmagazine, for an October debut. MARScovers such games as the Battletech*,Warhammer 40,000: and Heavy Gear*systems. (Contact: [email protected])

A new company, Raven’s Watch(Gibbsboro, NJ), has announced TheOctober Society, a club devoted to hor-ror RPGs both popular and neglected.“There are many horror games out therewith little or no press, and we want to fixthat,” says an Internet press release from“Lord Icarus” (not the most propitiousname). In its monthly newsletter, theSociety “will constantly seek out newgames while still covering in-depththose that have driven a stake into ourhearts.” Memberships: $13/six months,$20/year to Raven’s Watch Inc., 71Lakeview Drive Suite 456, Gibbsboro, NJ08026. (Contact: [email protected])

Notes from the fieldAfter a year of scheduling problems,

FASA Corporation (Chicago) plansstrong support in 1997 for its popularShadowrun* cyberpunk/magic RPG,including an art book (January), anunderworld sourcebook (January) andaccompanying adventures (March), sce-nario books in May and December, asecond edition of the Rigger Black Book(July), Cyber-Pirates (October), at leastthree novels, and in May — wait for it —a Shadowrun t rading card game.(Contact: [email protected])

Likewise, Metropolis Ltd.’s Kult* RPGof Clive Barker-style horror and Gnosticphilosophy has had a bumpy ride. ButMetropolis (Folsom, PA, but with staffersbased in three states and the District ofColumbia) has big plans for late 1996and 1997, including a revised Kult rule-book, a player’s companion, two magicsourcebooks, two scenario books, and acheery supplement called Purgatory.(Contact: [email protected])

Name any three gaming companies.Gold Rush Games (Elk Grove, CA), whichhas doubled the size of its product linefrom one Champions* scenario book totwo, produces more press releases thanall three companies put together. GoldRush now carries the Hero Games back-stock; Gold Rush is the American distrib-utor for the fine gaming magazineAustralian Realms; Gold Rush has aban-doned plans for a new edition of thevenerable Bushido* RPG after threats oflegal action from the previous publisher,Fantasy Games Unlimited, and is nowembarking on a new roleplaying gameset in feudal Japan, the Sengoku* game.(“Sengoku” is Japanese for “warringstates.) No word on a release date yet;no doubt there will be a press release.(Contact: [email protected])

Pagan Publishing (Seattle), publisherof The Unspeakable Oath magazine andlicensed Call of Cthulhu* game supple-ments, has moved. New address: PaganPublishing, 5536 25th Ave. NE, Seattle,WA 98105. (Contact: [email protected])

Freelance game designer Allen Varneysays hi to Melbourne’s Phi l and MarionAnderson, new Gloranthan f ict ion edi tors(see story above), who hosted him for sever-al delightful weeks of his seven-month worldtrip in 1992-93. Send news [email protected].

DRAGON #235 119

DRAGON® Magazine extends a warmwelcome to Todd Lockwood andRandy Post, two of the most talentedartists in fantasy illustration. Bothhave recently joined the TSR staff, andwe can’t wait to see their work onnew games next year.

White Wolf to form NullFoundation

Mark Reine•Hagen, designer of theVampire: The Masquerade* game andthree other Storyteller RPGs publishedby White Wolf Game Studio (Atlanta,GA), now plans a subsidiary company,the Null Foundation. Created to supportReine•Hagen’s forthcoming Exile* science-fiction RPG, Null will distribute thegame’s rules and supplements over theInternet, free of charge. Null will be “con-nected directly to White Wolf,” saysReine•Hagen, comparing the relationshipto “a Japanese conglomerate, but notwith a bank at the center but an intel-lectual property” — both the game andspinoff companies that derive from it.

The Exile game’s draft rules and pre-liminary background material are avail-able on White Wolf’s ornate World WideWeb site (www.white-wolf.com). Thegame incorporates concepts from abroad range of science fiction stories,such as David Brin’s “Uplift” series, FrankHerbert’s Dune, and works by OrsonScott Card and Gene Wolfe. In a highlystratified galactic society, players playscholars, aristocrats, celebrities, or otherson the paradise planet, Diadar. As thegame begins, the characters are exiledfrom Diadar to the Grange, a mysteriousregion of space beyond the Great Barrier.Each beginning character has affiliationswith up to five different “Syndics” (orga-nizations): as champion of one, enemy ofanother, initiate in a third, spy for afourth, and contact for a fifth. By foster-ing “memes” (ideas or beliefs), a charac-ter collects Logos, points that serve many

purposes. Syndics and memes determinecharacter goals, which vary widely.Reine•Hagen says the game tries to “get atthe core of what classic science fiction isall about, but in a way that’s basicallymythological.”

“A polymedia entity”: At press timeNull had not yet secured nonprofit sta-tus. Pending approval, details of Null’soperation remain confidential. ButRein•Hagen, speaking from his home inSan Francisco, discussed its goals in gen-eral terms. “The idea is to evolve whatwe call a polymedia entity.” Whereas hesays “multimedia” generally means“Here’s an idea, let’s find a bunch of dif-ferent ways to market it,” Rein•Hagenintends his “polymedia” idea to evolvenaturally to fit all media.

“I’m very interested in letting the[Exile] world evolve with the input ofhundreds, if not thousands, of people.Roleplaying is already intrinsically poly-media,” Rein•Hagen says, citing the earlyevolution of the D&D® game as “verypowerful. But I don’t think any othergame after [the D&D game] has evolved.I think that evolution has been lost,because [later RPGs have] been overlydesigned. We want Exile to evolve to fitits ecosystem.”

The Web site will include a news-group, Rein•Hagen says, where playerscan discuss the game. Null Foundationdesigners will read the discussions, and“if someone comes up with a really goodidea, we’ll approach them and invitethem to get involved. Once you con-tribute on a basic level to the world,there will be opportunities for you to getinvo lved a t h igher leve ls . Thoseinvolved in the Null Foundation will getfirst bid on new companies that spin offfrom the game. “The idea is to help peo-ple start their own companies. [In therole-playing field,] there’s never been anorganized way to help people do that.”

As an example, Rein•Hagen citedNoise-to-Signal Consulting, a planned

company that would develop the news-group software. This program would letusers vote on other players’ postedideas; posts have ratings customized toeach user. For example, say you and Iboth like the same kinds of posts. If Ivote “thumbs-up” for a given post, thenwhen the program shows you a ratingfor that post, it gives my voter greaterweight than a vote from someone whoseldom shares your taste.

Long-term goals: Rein•Hagen saysthe Exile game tries to “take what we’velearned from [White Wolf’s] World ofDarkness and do some radically differ-ent things. I’m convinced they’ll work,but nothing’s for sure. The whole idea is,we take risks, and we do things differ-ently. Role-playing is not only aboutworlds but also intrinsically [about[where all our media are going: [toward]interactive storytelling. What we are cre-ating today will become within ten yearsan important form of storytelling, andwithin thirty years can become the dom-inant form of storytelling in the world.”

He hopes that the Null Foundationcan guard against commercial pressuresthat, he believes, can corrupt creators’intent. “We, the pioneers, should push ina way that evolves [role-playing] so thatpeople who come later can screw it up.Look at comic books. It’s sad that inAmerica comics are seen as childlike,when it’s clear they can be incredibleworks of art. Role-playing deservessomething more.

“This is not about one person’svision, it’s not about leadership, it’s notabout ‘follow us,’ We’re trying to givepeople the tools they need to do whatthey want, whether they’re memes orrules or simply new ideas that can dowhat art always does: change some-one’s perspective.” (Contact: [email protected])


120 NOVEMBER 1996

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